Costa Rica Information

World biosphere reserveWith the Caño Negro Wetlands at the core of it, UNESCO established a new world biosphere reserve. Agua y Paz (Water and Peace) is the name of the new ecological area and it is located in the northern part of Costa Rica, in the Los Chiles canton of the province of Alajuela. A biosphere reserve is an area of major natural wealth, where the preservation of natural resources is the main goal, but where the rational economic use of the area by the neighboring communities is also fostered. Water and Peace encompasses 916,000 hectares (2,263,436 acres); it is located in the San Juan River (Nicaragua) Watershed, and extends from the Central Volcanic Mountain Range Reserve in Costa Rica to the Indio Maiz Reserve in Nicaragua. Several national parks and wildlife reserves are part of the new sanctuary, chosen by UNESCO among 33 sites sponsored by 21 countries. This is the third such site in Costa Rica, which also boasts of La Amistad –in the Talamanca mountain range and shared with Panama– and the Central Volcanic Mountain Range –in the central part of the country–.
$1 million for ecologyThe Pax Natura Foundation, with headquarters in the United States, donated $1 million that the Government of Costa Rica will use in the payment of environmental services provided by people and companies who protect 12,000 hectares (29,652 acres) of forests. The payment is a financial aid that the State provides to the owners of forested land who protect it and improve the environment. The Pax Natura Foundation announced that its aid will extend for 10 years and that the overall amount will reach $9 million. An official said that this aid means preventing the deforestation of 3,680 hectares (9,093 acres).

A free economyCosta Rica and Panama, preceded by Chile and El Salvador, share the third position in the Latin American ranking of free economies. Costa Rican economy is also 30th among 141 nations. These data are part of those recorded in the 2007 Annual Report on Economic Freedom in the World, issued by the Cato Institute in the United States and the Fraser Institute in Canada. According to the report Hong Kong is at the top of the world ranking, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United States. On the opposite side, Venezuela, which used to be at the top of free economies in Latin America, has dropped to position 135th, surpassing only five African countries and an Asian one.