Costa Rica

Setting
Situated in Northern Costa Rica, the Biological Corridor San Juan - La Selva comprises 247,000 hectares of rainforest, wetlands and lagoons. A number of endangered species are found here, including the Great Green Macaw and the Jaguar.
45,000 people live in the area, mainly in small communities and dependent on forestry and agricultural activities for their livelihood.
An international project was initiated in 2001 to protect the area through the development of environmental services. Click on the map for more information.

Problem
Poverty is widespread in an area in which only about 12% of land is considered marginally suitable for agriculture. Land is mostly used for cattle, which unfortunately does not provide a sustainable income. Decreasing productivity and population pressure is forcing people to encroach into the forest, increasing overexploitation and damage to the ecosystem.

Bio-rights
A National Park is currently being created in the San Juan - La Selva area, composed of a protected core area surrounded by buffer zones where (sustainable) agricultural activities would be allowed.
The role for Bio-rights in this process could be extensive, not only to help establish the National Park, but also to ensure its long-term viability, through:

• compensation payments for relocated people,
• compensation payments in the buffer zone, stimulating and ensuring sustainable income,
• a general supplement for people with low incomes to stem the over-exploitation of natural resources.