EscucharSAN JOSE - Costa Rica, in the 80s the world leader in the destruction of forests, has successfully reversed that trend during the last decade and currently has a forest cover in 40 percent of its territory, according to a study that the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE in Spanish) disclosed yesterday.
The project, which is unique in countries with tropical forests, according to Minister of the Environment René Castro, will be the subject of analysis by experts and scientists from the United Nations program on climatic change who will meet in Costa Rica later this month.
According to the study, Costa Rica currently enjoys a forest cover of 2,063,487 hectares (5,098,876 acres), the equivalent of 40 percent of its 51,000 square-kilometer (19,686 square-mile) territory.
From an average deforestation of 37,372 hectares (92,346 acres) per year in the early 80s, the study points out that the reforestation programs developed both by the state and by the private sector during the last decade ``have increased the forest cover by 122,012 hectares (301,491 acres),'' with an average annual increase of 12,200 hectares (30,146 acres) over the last 10 years.
NASA satellite photographs and field verification backed the study, which was carried out by the Scientific Tropical Center with the Center for Sustainable Development and International Conservation as international support organization.
Minister Castro remarked that the reversion of the deforestation process was achieved thanks to a ``state policy'' that began in 1980 offering subsidies and incentives to farmers and forest companies, and international aid.
The official insisted that ``the sustainability of the process will only be possible with a commitment by the developed world'' to pay for the environmental services provided by tropical forests, particularly because of their ability to reprocess carbon dioxide and to maintain biodiversity.
Costa Rica earmarked $7 million for the protection of forests and reforestation 10 years ago; today, it dedicates $14 million to those areas, Minister Castro explained.
The effort made by this Central American nation to reverse the trend of deforestation in recent years was explained by Minister Castro when he quoted that 20 years ago the destruction of forests reached an average 50,000 hectares (123,550 acres) a year, that in 1986 that figure was reduced to 20,000 hectares (49,420 acres), to 4,000 hectares (9884 acres) in 1994, and to 0 in 1997.
