EscucharSAN JOSE - Costa Rica has become the first tropical country in achieving a zero deforestation rate this year, the Minister of the Environment, René Castro, proudly announced yesterday.
The success is particularly important for a country that 25 years ago was a world leader in deforestation, at a 50,000 square-hectare (123,500 square-acre) rate a year.
``In the tropics, only one province in Indonesia has a zero deforestation rate, a partial success. Costa Rica is the first country in achieving it fully and even in having started the reverse trend, thanks to extended reforestation projects,'' Minister Castro told foreign correspondents in San José yesterday.
The regeneration of forests in Costa Rica has been promoted since 1995, through development of projects in which the state invests some $10 million a year. The funds are used to compensate owners of forests who preserve them.
Minister Castro explained that the program, called Certificate of Forest Protection (CFP), consists in paying owners of forests $35 to $40 per hectare (2.471 acre) a year, so that they will preserve the forest instead of dedicating the land to pasture or agriculture.
``It was thanks to this program that the zero deforestation rate was achieved this year. The future success of the program is confirmed by the fact that a growing number of land owners are interested in joining in the protection of the forests,'' the official added.
Asked about the minister's assertion, the president of the Costa Rican Ecological Association, Alvaro León, told La Nación that ``if the information includes the plantations (of one single species) it might be true.
``Regarding native forests, I would not dare say that the rate is positive. As to the regeneration of secondary forests and maintaining primary forests, saying such things is daring.''
However, to Minister Castro the zero figure is based on the addition of primary natural forest, secondary forest, and tree plantations. ``It is true that each has its own, different biological characteristics. But it is also a fact that, for the first time, we are using what is produced in a year. We are not eating up our forestal heritage.''
From 50,000 to 0
Between 1975 and 1980, the rate of deforestation in Costa Rica was 50,000 hectares (123,500 acres) a year. As a result, it was refered to in international reports as a leader in the deforestation of the tropics.
Reforestation programs, developed in 1986 led to a reduction of the rate of deforestation to 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres) in 1990, and to 4,000 (9,884 acres) in 1994.
The money for the CFP program comes from a special $10 million fund: $7 million from a fuel tax and $3 million from international cooperation programs.
``Without international help we can hold the zero deforestation rate, but we would not be able to increase forested areas,'' Minister Castro explained.
The official quoted, as an example of the fact that deforestation can be reverted, that 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) are regenerated every year in the Central Mountain Range, where pressure on forests is the strongest.
``Central American authorities are making efforts to coordinate policies toward the protection of the forests,'' Minister Castro said, ``however, economic pressure is stronger and forested areas are turned into pasture and agricultural plots.
``In Central America, we are walking in the same direction, but at different speeds.''
In Costa Rica, 25 percent of the country's 51,000 square kilometers (19,686 square miles) are under a protection regime.
