Humans have access to Earth's fantastic resources, but we also have the responsibility to use those resources wisely and protect the future of our biosphere. In Costa Rica, we encountered a variety of ways the land can be used by humans. Each style of land management carries advantages and disadvantages. We hope that humans make decisions that will preserve ecological balance for millennia to come.
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| Primary Forest |
Primary Forest is centuries-old growth that is home to a wealth of plant and animal species. We were privileged to see countless kinds of creatures that we had never seen before. Think of the primary forest as a "DNA Sanctuary" which preserves complex food webs needed for the survival of multitudes of species.
Advantages:
Reliable habitat for creatures with long lifespans.
Has long-reaching positive influence on the entire Earth biosphere.
Offers hope for the survival of many species.
Disadvantages:
What do you say to an angry neighbor who tells you: "A jaguar from your forest killed my calf--now you have to pay me for it."
What do you say to a young couple with babies to care for who look at your land and say: "Look at all of that space--please let us make a home there. Look at that magnificent tree--please let us cut just one tree to sell its hardwood and get money for our family. Look at that wonderful macaw--please let us just capture one pair to sell as a pet to someone in another country."
How can you justify leaving great areas of forest idle, while so many people lack food and money that could be obtained by harvesting the forest?
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| Secondary Forest |
Secondary Forest is recent growth that has returned after an area was disturbed by humans sometime during the last few centuries. It will take many more centuries for all of the food webs and complex relationships of the primary forest to take hold again in this area. After all, it took Mother Nature thousands of years to develop these plant and animal species.
Advantages:
Much greater species diversity than agricultural land can support.
Contributes oxygen to Earth's atmosphere.
Protects the watershed.
Disadvantages:It's a good start, but will still take many more centuries before it has the health of a primary forest.
Disruption is a constant threat--it is possible for humans to destroy in one day what might take hundreds of years to repair.
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| Agricultural Land |
Agriculture can be maintained in various forms. The trees can be burned and the land established as graze land for livestock. Or the trees can be cut down and sold for their value as precious hardwood,
Advantages:
The landowner can make money by using the land to produce commodities.
Although many, many species cannot survive under these conditions, there is still a lot of green space that supports a variety of creatures.
Disadvantages:Destruction of the forest increases erosion and soil loss.
Agricultural practices can pollute the watershed with animal waste and chemical residues.
Many species go extinct in the area where they once thrived.
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| Logging |
Lumber plantations are where a selected species of tree is planted, grown, and harvested on a regular basis. The owner of El Zota Biological Field Station at one time used part of his land to grow Gmelina trees, an Asian species that grows well in Central America and produces excellent wood for making wooden pallets for shipping, distribution, and storage of merchandise throughout the world.
Advantages:
Economic benefits for the landowner.
World trade depends on the products of the land.
Some native species can still survive on the plantation.
Disadvantages:
Only one species of tree dominates where multitudes of diverse plant species once shared the ecosystem.
The area no longer provides the food, shelter, and complex relationships that so many animal species once depended on in the primary forest.
The regular harvest of the trees for lumber does not allow long-term development of nesting patterns and other such animal behaviors.
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| Fruits and Flowers |
Banana plantations, pineapple plantations, and rose plantations are examples of mass production to satisfy consumer demand throughout the world. These monocultures occupy vast tracts of land and are often owned by wealthy corporations from other countries.
Advantages:
The owners of the land are rewarded by "efficiently" producing tremendous quantities of "perfect" specimens of fruits or flowers that people want to purchase.
Disadvantages:
Waste is common as "imperfect" specimens are discarded before shipping.
The search for perfection leads to destructive practices such as the spraying of pesticides, which destroys innumerable species in the area.
The use of pesticides requires protection, such as the blue plastic bags that are used to cover the bananas in the banana plantation. These bags are not recycled, and often find their way to the ocean and cause havoc among living communities far and wide.
Local people lose ownership and control over the use of land in their own country.
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For more information about the need for conservation, see "A Dose of Diversity" by Jessica Snyder Sachs in the Aug/Sep 2010 issue of National Wildlife World Edition, Vol.48, No.5, published by the National Wildlife Federation. In an editorial on page 4 of that same issue, Mark Wexler writes: "According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, 70% of all known plant species throughout the world, 37% of all known freshwater species, 35% of all invertebrates, 30% of all amphibians, 28% of all reptiles, 22% of all mammals and 12% of all birds now face threats to their survival. What's more, the present global rate of extinction is accelerating at a record pace."
