https://coalicionfloresta.org Updates and analysis on Costa Rica's rainforest conservation efforts en Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:30:23 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/biodiversity-defense-toolkit.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/biodiversity-defense-toolkit.html Costa Rica's Constitutional Court has spent three decades building an interlocking system of environmental doctrines that make it extraordinarily difficult to destroy biodiverse habitat legally. Here is how the architecture works, and why it matters for every forested ridge in the country. Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/southern-zone-airport-opposition.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/southern-zone-airport-opposition.html When the banana company left the Diquís Delta in 1984, 350 farming families stayed and built lives on the land. Now the government wants to build an international airport on their fincas. SETENA rejected the project in 2015. The Procuraduría found it legally unviable. The government revived it anyway. Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/species-we-lost.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/species-we-lost.html Costa Rica's deforestation didn't just destroy "forests." It erased reservoirs of endemic species, many still unknown to science. What was lost is permanently lost, and what regrew is genetically narrower. Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/rondeletia-amoena.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/rondeletia-amoena.html Pink flowers with a yellow-bearded throat, first cultivated in a Belgian nursery from Guatemalan seed. For 175 years, botanists have argued over whether this cloud forest shrub deserves its own genus. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hamelia-rovirosae.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hamelia-rovirosae.html A slender treelet of Caribbean swamp forests whose red tubular flowers bristle with unusual crooked hairs. Named for the polymath naturalist of Tabasco whose monument once stood at the University of Berlin. Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/what-is-biodiversity.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/what-is-biodiversity.html The word was invented in 1986 to fit a conference title. It now describes the most complex system science has ever tried to understand. Here is what it actually means, why Central America has so much of it, and what it does when it works. Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/palicourea-padifolia.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/palicourea-padifolia.html Yellow tubular flowers on coral-red branches make this cloud forest shrub a beacon for hummingbirds, and one of the most studied distylous plants in the Americas. Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/wolf-guindon.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/wolf-guindon.html Wolf Guindon sold the first chainsaws in Costa Rica, then spent four decades patrolling the cloud forest he helped protect, unarmed, guided by the same Quaker conscience that sent him to prison at eighteen. Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/gifford-pinchot.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/gifford-pinchot.html Gifford Pinchot's family fortune came from clear-cutting forests. His life's work was making sure no one could do it again. He built the U.S. Forest Service, invented the American meaning of 'conservation,' and spent his last decades arguing that forests were beautiful and world peace depended on how nations shared their natural resources. Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/amos-bien.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/amos-bien.html Amos Bien heard chainsaws destroying rainforest around a biological station in Sarapiquí, calculated that the cattle ranchers replacing it earned seven dollars per acre per year, and spent the rest of his life proving that the forest was worth more standing. Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/letter-to-a-realtor.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/letter-to-a-realtor.html When you see a forested ridge in the Brunca, you see an investment opportunity. I'm asking you to see something else: an irreplaceable library of evolutionary solutions, tested over millions of years, that we cannot recreate and do not yet fully understand. Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sloanea-medusula.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sloanea-medusula.html The largest leaves of any tree in Costa Rica and a spiny fruit capsule named for the head of Medusa. Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/isertia-haenkeana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/isertia-haenkeana.html Gaudy yellow-to-red flower clusters that shift color as they age, collected by a Czech botanist who swam ashore from a shipwreck. Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/warszewiczia-coccinea.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/warszewiczia-coccinea.html A scarlet-bracted tree whose crimson inflorescences drape through the wet forests of the Neotropics. The national flower of Trinidad and Tobago, named for a Polish exile who collected orchids across Central America. Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/diquis-dam.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/diquis-dam.html In 2008, Costa Rica declared a massive hydroelectric dam on indigenous territory a matter of "national convenience." Fourteen years, four constitutional challenges, and $146 million later, the Sala IV killed the project. Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/they-ate-my-garden.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/they-ate-my-garden.html Costa Rica's leaf-cutter ants farm fungus, engineer soils, and strip gardens overnight. The poisons sold to kill them contaminate watersheds with forever chemicals and have killed millions of bees. What the science says about what these ants actually do, what keeps them in balance, and what works when they move into your yard. Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/brunca-environmental-crime.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/brunca-environmental-crime.html Every environmental complaint filed in Costa Rica's Brunca region from 2013 to 2026, scraped, categorized, and charted. What 13 years of data reveal about who is destroying the southern zone and why the system cannot keep up. Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aiouea-obscura.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aiouea-obscura.html A rare tree known from only one specimen when first described, with fruits so striking they seem designed to catch the eye of hungry birds. Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hamelia-macrantha.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hamelia-macrantha.html A yellow-flowered understory tree of cloud forests, named twice for its large blooms Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/drimys-granadensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/drimys-granadensis.html A cloud forest tree whose wood lacks vessels entirely. Its peppery bark earned it the name paramo pepper in Colombia. Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/podocarpus-oleifolius.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/podocarpus-oleifolius.html A Gondwanan conifer that has persisted in Neotropical cloud forests for tens of millions of years, with olive-shaped leaves that disguise its ancient lineage among the broadleaf trees it shares the canopy with. Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alnus-acuminata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alnus-acuminata.html Collected by Humboldt on his great American expedition, this highland alder feeds the soil beneath it, fuels Andean farms, and carries an ancient partnership with fungi across two continents. Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roupala-montana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roupala-montana.html A Gondwanan relic with 78 synonyms, leaves that change shape with age, and crushed foliage that smells like canned tuna. Botanists have spent two centuries trying to classify it. The tree has not cooperated. Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/diquis-delta-people.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/diquis-delta-people.html An archaeological survey for an airport project reveals traces of a society that understood this flood-prone landscape far better than we do. Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/forest-irreducibility.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/forest-irreducibility.html Article 19 of Costa Rica's Forestry Law permits construction on forested land. Criminal courts say that clearing forest cannot change its legal status. The Procuraduría resolved the contradiction in 2009. The answer is deceptively simple. Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/weinmannia-pinnata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/weinmannia-pinnata.html Pink bottlebrush flowers against dark cloud forest. The bark of this high-altitude shrub was once used to adulterate quinine, earning it the name bastard briziletto. Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/jacaranda-copaia.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/jacaranda-copaia.html A towering pioneer whose lavender crown bursts above the canopy like a signal flare. The Galibi people of French Guiana gave it the name copaia, and two centuries of European botanists tried to replace it with Latin. Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/paramachaerium-gruberi.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/paramachaerium-gruberi.html A critically endangered giant of the Osa Peninsula whose bark exfoliates in distinctive rectangular plates and weeps blood-red sap when cut. Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/posoqueria-latifolia.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/posoqueria-latifolia.html A lowland rain forest tree with a pollen catapult and flowers only sphinx moths can pollinate Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/prioria-peninsulae.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/prioria-peninsulae.html A giant legume of the Osa Peninsula, hidden for decades under the name of its Caribbean sister species until a 2022 taxonomic revision recognized it as distinct. Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/astronium-graveolens.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/astronium-graveolens.html A towering dry-forest canopy tree whose striped heartwood earned the international trade name Tigerwood. Its pockmarked bark and star-shaped fruits make it unmistakable in Costa Rica's Pacific lowlands. Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pachira-aquatica.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pachira-aquatica.html A swamp tree with spectacular crimson-tipped flowers that open at dusk for bats and moths. One of few scientific plant names borrowed directly from an indigenous South American language. Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/euterpe-precatoria.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/euterpe-precatoria.html The most common tree in the Amazon with 5.2 billion individuals, this single-stemmed palm produces the famous açaí fruit and is threatened by illegal palm heart harvesting in Costa Rica. Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/numbers-game.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/numbers-game.html Costa Rica regulates forest development through percentage caps: 10% of forest area, 25% of agricultural parcels. These numbers sound precise. They can be measured, verified, enforced. But what if the percentages are measuring the wrong thing? Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guazuma-ulmifolia.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guazuma-ulmifolia.html A tree with warty fruits designed for animals that went extinct 10,000 years ago. Horses now serve as surrogate dispersers. Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guettarda-crispiflora.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guettarda-crispiflora.html A small tree of humid forests from Costa Rica to South America, distinguished by white tubular flowers with crisped corolla lobes adapted for hawkmoth pollination. Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guettarda-foliacea.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guettarda-foliacea.html A member of the Rubiaceae family found in Central American forests. Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guettarda-sanblasensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guettarda-sanblasensis.html A member of the Rubiaceae family found in Central American forests. Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/faramea-suerrensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/faramea-suerrensis.html Shade-tolerant understory shrub with striking blue inflorescences and distinctive melastome-like leaf venation, ranging from Nicaragua to Colombia through Costa Rica's lowland rainforests. Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/couratari-guianensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/couratari-guianensis.html An emergent rainforest tree that drops its leaves before erupting in bright purple flowers. Macaws destroy up to 99% of the fruit crop in some populations. Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hamelia-axillaris.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hamelia-axillaris.html A member of the Rubiaceae family found in Central American forests. Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/faramea-glandulosa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/faramea-glandulosa.html A shade-tolerant understory tree with striking blue flowers on white inflorescence branches, found in primary wet forests from Mexico to Brazil. Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/duroia-costaricensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/duroia-costaricensis.html Endemic understory tree of the Golfo Dulce lowlands. Unlike its famous Amazonian relatives that cultivate devil's gardens through ant partnerships, this species lacks myrmecophytic associations. Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chomelia-microloba.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chomelia-microloba.html A small understory tree of the coffee family bearing fleshy black fruits favored by guans and curassows, named for its characteristically small corolla lobes. Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chomelia-tenuiflora.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chomelia-tenuiflora.html A spiny understory shrub or small tree of the coffee family distinguished by its extremely slender white flowers, native to wet lowland forests from Costa Rica to Brazil. Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chomelia-venosa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chomelia-venosa.html One of the tallest members of its genus, this rainforest tree is distinguished by leaves with prominently raised venation, endemic to Costa Rica and Panama. Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/minquartia-guianensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/minquartia-guianensis.html An emergent canopy tree of lowland wet forests from Nicaragua to the Amazon Basin. Among the most durable Neotropical timbers, it lives 300+ years, reaching over 70 meters in Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula. Its bark contains compounds with validated antimalarial and anti-HIV activity. Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chione-venosa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chione-venosa.html A widespread neotropical tree whose Caribbean nickname comes from the pale, greasy texture of its edible fruits, found from Mexico to Peru and encompassing what were once numerous separate Central American species. Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/attalea-butyracea.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/attalea-butyracea.html A towering palm with vertical rooster-tail fronds that hosts the primary vector of Chagas disease in the Orinoco region. Indigenous peoples extract wine from its sap and use its parts in 36 documented ways. Sun, 25 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/castilla-elastica.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/castilla-elastica.html The Panama rubber tree fueled Mesoamerican civilizations for 3,000+ years. Ancient peoples perfected vulcanization millennia before Goodyear. But when the rubber boom arrived, the tree's anatomy doomed it: lacking connected latex vessels like Hevea brasiliensis, harvest required killing trees. Destructive exploitation decimated populations while Southeast Asian Hevea plantations captured the market. Sun, 25 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/psidium-guajava.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/psidium-guajava.html A small tree cultivated for millennia, bearing fragrant fruit with pink flesh and seeds as numerous as sand grains. Sun, 25 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/anacardium-occidentale.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/anacardium-occidentale.html A tree whose fruit grows backwards: the kidney-shaped nut perched atop a swollen, colorful pseudofruit. Sun, 25 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/article-19-loopholes.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/article-19-loopholes.html Costa Rica's 1996 Forestry Law banned forest clearing on private land, with narrow exceptions for ecotourism. Those exceptions contain undefined terms, untested ambiguities, and a 2-hectare threshold that developers exploit through permit fragmentation. Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/bocconia-frutescens.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/bocconia-frutescens.html A poppy that bleeds yellow when cut, bearing dangling stamens that have abandoned petals for wind. The sole New World representative of an ancient lineage split from its Asian sister forty million years ago. Sun, 18 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-stakes.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-stakes.html Costa Rica treats peripheral regions as extraction zones while concentrating real economic development in the Central Valley. Tourism policy perpetuates this colonial pattern: the GAM gets tech jobs, the coast gets seasonal hotel work. The alternative isn't better ecotourism. It's bringing the high-tech economy to peripheral regions. Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-stakes.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-stakes.html Costa Rica treats peripheral regions as extraction zones while concentrating real economic development in the Central Valley. Tourism policy perpetuates this colonial pattern: the GAM gets tech jobs, the coast gets seasonal hotel work. The alternative isn't better ecotourism. It's bringing the high-tech economy to peripheral regions. Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-economic-reality.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-economic-reality.html Everyone has opinions about Costa Rica's economic future. Fewer have looked at the data. Before debating airports and development, it's worth checking the numbers. Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pseudobombax-septenatum.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pseudobombax-septenatum.html A potbellied tree with photosynthetic bark. Green stripes on the trunk contain chlorophyll, allowing it to photosynthesize even when leafless during the dry season. Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/crescentia-cujete.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/crescentia-cujete.html A tree with 5,000 years of human history, the calabash appears in Maya creation mythology and provides the sacred rattles of Vodou priests and the resonating gourds of Brazilian capoeira. Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/tabebuia-rosea.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/tabebuia-rosea.html El Salvador's national tree, the maquilishuat erupts into spectacular pink blooms each dry season. One of Central America's most important timber trees, it ranges from Mexico to Ecuador. Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/brosimum-alicastrum.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/brosimum-alicastrum.html A keystone tree that may have fed Maya cities for centuries. When archaeologist Dennis Puleston tested ancient storage chambers at Tikal, ramon nuts lasted thirteen months while maize and beans were devoured by insects within weeks. Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hippomane-mancinella.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hippomane-mancinella.html The Guinness World Record holder as the most dangerous tree in the world. Its caustic sap can blind, its apple-like fruits can kill, and even standing beneath it in rain burns the skin. Yet iguanas and tortoises eat the fruit safely. Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-economic-reality.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-economic-reality.html Everyone has opinions about Costa Rica's economic future. Fewer have looked at the data. Before debating airports and development, it's worth checking the numbers. Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cocos-nucifera.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cocos-nucifera.html Three dark pores on every coconut shell look like a grimacing face. Portuguese sailors in the 1500s called them coco — goblin. The coconut palm drifted across oceans for millennia before humans, colonizing remote tropical shores with seeds that float for months at sea. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/spondias-purpurea.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/spondias-purpurea.html A deciduous fruit tree cultivated across Mesoamerica for its sweet-tart plum-like fruits, with at least two independent domestication events and an unusual reliance on wasps rather than bees for pollination. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/annona-muricata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/annona-muricata.html Large spiny fruits emerging directly from tree trunks. Flowers that heat themselves to attract beetle pollinators. A crop with both healing promise and neurotoxic warning. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/persea-americana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/persea-americana.html A member of the Lauraceae family found in Central American forests. Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/theobroma-cacao.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/theobroma-cacao.html An understory tree with a 5,300-year cultivation history, pollinated exclusively by midges no bigger than pinheads. Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-economic-arguments.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-economic-arguments.html With 35 percent poverty in Osa, communities need income now. Tourism proponents offer a tested development model: airports, resorts, certification systems. The argument deserves examination at its strongest—and against available evidence. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/faramea-occidentalis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/faramea-occidentalis.html Shade-loving understory tree of tropical wet forests from Mexico to Brazil. Its research history on Barro Colorado Island has made it one of the most intensively studied trees in the Neotropics. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/coussarea-loftonii.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/coussarea-loftonii.html A member of the Rubiaceae family found in Central American forests. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/palicourea-hondensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/palicourea-hondensis.html A Central American understory shrub with nocturnal white flowers, unusual for a genus known for bright hummingbird-pollinated blooms. First collected by Henri Pittier in 1901, this species took over a century and two genus changes before finding its current taxonomic home. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/bertiera-bracteosa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/bertiera-bracteosa.html An understory shrub or small tree of very wet lowland forests, distinguished by its connate stipules that form a sheath around the stem. This Rubiaceae species thrives from Nicaragua to Ecuador. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chimarrhis-parviflora.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chimarrhis-parviflora.html A riparian tree of very wet lowland forests from Honduras to Colombia, its brilliant yellow-orange wood earning it the vernacular name 'yema de huevo' (egg yolk). Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chiococca-belizensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chiococca-belizensis.html A scrambling shrub or vine of wet lowland forests from Mexico to Peru, named for Belize where botanist Percy Gentle collected the type specimen. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/coussarea-caroliana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/coussarea-caroliana.html An understory shrub or small tree of wet montane forests from Costa Rica to Colombia, bearing 4-merous white flowers typical of the genus Coussarea. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/coussarea-paniculata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/coussarea-paniculata.html A widespread neotropical tree reaching 12 meters, bearing jasmine-scented white flowers that open at night and containing novel cytotoxic compounds discovered in 2003. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-economic-arguments.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-economic-arguments.html With 35 percent poverty in Osa, communities need income now. Tourism proponents offer a tested development model: airports, resorts, certification systems. The argument deserves examination at its strongest. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chiococca-alba.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chiococca-alba.html A scrambling shrub of coastal hammocks and forest edges whose translucent white berries give it the name snowberry, serving as a critical host for the endangered Miami blue butterfly. Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alseis-costaricensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alseis-costaricensis.html A Near Threatened canopy tree endemic to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, reaching 35 meters tall with spike-like inflorescences and wind-dispersed seeds in the wet lowland forests of the Osa Peninsula. Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/madrono.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/madrono.html A small understory tree prized for its sweet-sour fruits and medicinal leaves, found from Mexico to Brazil in wet lowland forests. Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alibertia-dwyeri.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alibertia-dwyeri.html A dioecious understory tree of lowland wet forests from Nicaragua to Colombia, bearing large globular fruits with edible mucilaginous pulp. Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alibertia-utleyorum.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alibertia-utleyorum.html A Vulnerable endemic from Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula wet forests, named for botanists John and Kathleen Utley. Little is known of its ecology. Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/borojo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/borojo.html A small rainforest tree famed for its large, pulpy fruits and legendary aphrodisiac reputation. The Emberá name means 'head-shaped fruit.' Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/yema-de-huevo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/yema-de-huevo.html A riparian giant of Costa Rica's Pacific lowlands with cream-colored bark and egg-yolk yellow wood, endemic to southwestern Costa Rica and western Panama. Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/genipa-americana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/genipa-americana.html The jagua tree whose unripe fruits yield an indelible blue-black dye used for indigenous body painting across the Neotropics for millennia. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hamelia-patens.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/hamelia-patens.html The firebush of forest edges, whose year-round tubular orange-red flowers draw more hummingbird species than any other native shrub in the Neotropics. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/palicourea-elata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/palicourea-elata.html The unmistakable 'kissing plant' whose brilliant red bracts open like painted lips to attract hummingbirds before revealing the true flowers within. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/psychotria-biaristata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/psychotria-biaristata.html A tiered understory shrub with tiny leaves and cherry-red drupes that feed Brunca birds from Golfo Dulce to the Talamanca cloud forest. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cinchona-pubescens.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cinchona-pubescens.html The tree that changed world history, its bark yielding quinine that conquered malaria and enabled European colonization of the tropics. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/psychotria-marginata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/psychotria-marginata.html An understory cafecillo whose domatia-laced leaves and airy panicles link La Selva’s successional strips with Monte Hiltún’s limestone valleys. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/psychotria-viridis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/psychotria-viridis.html A Brunca population of the iconic ayahuasca leaf whose glabrous crowns, glomerulate panicles, and DMT-rich chemistry anchor riparian understories across Costa Rica’s wet foothills. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alibertia-atlantica.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/alibertia-atlantica.html A dioecious borojó relative from Sarapiquí’s ridges whose velvety-veined leaves and thick-walled berries link Costa Rica’s Caribbean slope with Colón, Panama. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aspidosperma-cruentum.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aspidosperma-cruentum.html An amargo emergent with blood-red latex that links the Maya lowlands, Golfo Dulce foothills, and Amazonia through wind-dispersed, winged seeds and resin-slick buttresses. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/stemmadenia-donnell-smithii.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/stemmadenia-donnell-smithii.html A living-fence favorite whose perfumed night flowers lure hawkmoths while paired orange fruits fuel tanagers, honeycreepers, and monkeys across Brunca hedgerows. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/plumeria-rubra.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/plumeria-rubra.html The Brunca flor blanca whose night-scented pinwheels anchor living fences, feed hawkmoths, and host giant caterpillars that in turn sustain cuckoos. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/tabernaemontana-alba.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/tabernaemontana-alba.html The white milkwood of Brunca whose latex-rich hedges shelter beetles, hawkmoths, and stingless bees while supplying gum, posts, and riverine shade. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/thevetia-ahouai.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/thevetia-ahouai.html The Brunca "cojón de perro" whose latex posts knit living fences that host toucans, bees, and hawkmoths while deterring cattle and mites alike. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-helicterifolia.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-helicterifolia.html A cloud-forest laurel with oversized, helically twisted leaves that links the sierras of southern Mexico with Costa Rica’s Talamancas and on to the Northern Andes. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-macrantha.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-macrantha.html A large-flowered laurel endemic to the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve, where fewer than two dozen trees survive on the Osa Peninsula's rain-soaked ridges. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-lentii.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-lentii.html A Roy Lent discovery that links Costa Rica's Caribbean lowlands with wet foothill forests up to 1,600 meters, now classed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-oblonga.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-oblonga.html A gynodioecious lowland laurel with pit-domatia leaves and tiny fruits that links Costa Rica's Caribbean forests to Belize, the Guianas, and Bolivia. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-sinuata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-sinuata.html A velvety-leaved Pacific-slope laurel whose rosy flowers brighten seasonally dry foothill forests from Chiapas to the Valle del General. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-praetermissa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-praetermissa.html A once-overlooked Irazu laurel with soft pubescent undersides and glabrous yellow flowers that trace the cloud-forest crest between Costa Rica and Panama. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-mollicella.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-mollicella.html The quizarra amarillo of the Los Santos cloud belt, recognized by gray velvety leaves and racemose inflorescences that ripen fruits for tanagers at 1,400–2,300 meters. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-calophylla.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-calophylla.html A páramo-edge laurel with silvery sericeous leaves that links Costa Rica’s Cerro de la Muerte to the high cordilleras of Colombia and Venezuela. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-pharomachrosorum.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-pharomachrosorum.html A Dota highland laurel dedicated to the resplendent quetzal, bearing long-petioled leaves and fruits that sustain the bird across the Talamanca–Chiriquí divide. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-monteverdensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-monteverdensis.html A narrow-leaved endemic of the Monteverde cloud forest corridor whose decurrent blades and ferruginous inflorescences mark mid-elevation ridges. Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cerillo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cerillo.html A distinctive understory tree armored with conical thorns, its trunk exuding thick white latex once used as a coffee sweetener throughout Costa Rica's Pacific slope rainforests. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/zapotillo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/zapotillo.html A canopy tree with wood so dense it sinks in water, this member of the sapodilla family produces fleshy fruits favored by monkeys and birds across the Neotropics. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chancho-colorado.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chancho-colorado.html A fast-growing pioneer tree that dominates secondary forests across Costa Rica's humid lowlands, its rusty-haired twigs and violet-scented yellow flowers making it unmistakable. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-valeriana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-valeriana.html A cloud forest laurel named for Costa Rican botanist Juvenal Valerio Rodríguez, this montane tree inhabits the misty highlands where quetzals and bellbirds feed on Lauraceae fruits. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-pittieri.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-pittieri.html An endangered laurel named for the Swiss botanist who founded Costa Rica's first herbarium, this rare tree persists in the montane forests of Costa Rica and Panama. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-austinii.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-austinii.html A cloud forest laurel from Costa Rica's central highlands, this medium-sized tree with sulphur-yellow flowers inhabits the misty oak forests where resplendent quetzals feed on Lauraceae fruits. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-brenesii.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-brenesii.html A cloud forest laurel named for Costa Rica's pioneering botanist Alberto Brenes, this rare tree grows in the misty highlands where Brenes himself once collected specimens. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-meziana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-meziana.html A cloud forest laurel from Costa Rica's Monteverde region, named in honor of the German botanist Carl Mez who revolutionized our understanding of the Lauraceae family. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-multiflora.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-multiflora.html A Vulnerable lowland laurel endemic to Costa Rica's Golfo Dulce forests, where fine-veined coppery leaves and tiny cupules distinguish it from other canopy Ocoteas. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-cernua.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-cernua.html A dioecious lowland laurel that spans both Costa Rican slopes, offering fragrant flowers to pollinators and oily drupes to toucans, cotingas, and monkeys across humid forests. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-pullifolia.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-pullifolia.html Glossy-leaved <em>Ocotea</em> of Costa Rica’s foothills whose perforated leaf domatia and flared cupules feed toucans, cotingas, and monkeys from Turrialba to the Osa Peninsula. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-patula.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-patula.html A golden-tomentose Lauraceae known only from Cerro Anguciana in the Fila Costeña, still awaiting its first documented fruits. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-holdridgeiana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-holdridgeiana.html A cloud forest tree from Monteverde named after the American botanist Leslie Holdridge, who developed the life zones classification system. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-endresiana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-endresiana.html A cloud forest tree famous for demonstrating directed seed dispersal by three-wattled bellbirds. Seeds deposited at bellbird song perches are twice as likely to survive. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-laetevirens.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-laetevirens.html A Pacific-slope laurel that threads Costa Rica's mangrove edges to oak ridges, distinguished by glabrous yellow-green leaves with hairy domatia and deep-cupped fruits. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/carapa-blanca.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/carapa-blanca.html A mahogany relative of lowland wet forests, valued for timber resembling true mahogany and as a critical food source for migratory birds whose seasonal journeys link temperate and tropical forests. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sebo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sebo.html The original Virola, this slender understory tree of the nutmeg family was the first species described in a genus central to Amazonian shamanism. Its fat-rich seeds once lit indigenous homes as natural candles. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sigua.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sigua.html A tall canopy tree of the laurel family whose scientific synonym honors Alexander Skutch, the legendary naturalist who documented Costa Rica's birds for over six decades from his farm Los Cusingos. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-tonduzii.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ocotea-tonduzii.html A cloud forest tree from Monteverde whose fruits sustain the Resplendent Quetzal and whose leaves contain compounds that interest cancer researchers. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/colpachi.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/colpachi.html A medicinal tree whose menthol-scented bark has been used for centuries to treat wounds and high blood pressure, while serving as a host plant for leafwing butterflies. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/manil.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/manil.html A pantropical swamp tree with stilt roots and yellow latex that originated in Africa and floated across the Atlantic three separate times. Its scarlet flowers attract tanagers, and its bark has been used to treat ailments from malaria to leishmaniasis. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/malagueto.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/malagueto.html An understory tree of Costa Rica's lowland forests with banana-scented yellow flowers that attract pollinating beetles, and purple aggregate fruits dispersed by forest birds. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pilon.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pilon.html The blood-sapped timber giant of Costa Rica's wet forests. Its crimson sap and dense marine-grade wood make it a prized construction timber, while its fruits sustain monkeys and birds. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/garrocho.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/garrocho.html A graceful understory tree with brick-red inner bark and aromatic white flowers adorned with three purple stamens. Its purple-black fruits feed dozens of bird and monkey species. Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/arrayan.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/arrayan.html A cloud forest shrub of the heath family with edible berries and deep mycorrhizal connections to the acidic soils of Costa Rica's páramo. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/nance-macho.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/nance-macho.html A pioneer tree that colonizes disturbed lands and prepares the way for forest recovery, with fragrant white flowers that attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/clethra-gelida.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/clethra-gelida.html A Costa Rican endemic tree of the cold highlands, found only in the cloud forests and subpáramo of the Cordillera de Talamanca above 2,400 meters elevation. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/comarostaphylis-arbutoides.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/comarostaphylis-arbutoides.html A hardy shrub to small tree of Central American highlands, forming dense thickets in the páramo zone and serving as a refuge for ectomycorrhizal fungi that sustain forest regeneration. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-negro.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-negro.html The black mangrove sends pencil-like breathing roots up through oxygen-starved mud. Named for the medieval Persian polymath Ibn Sina, this species occupies the critical middle zone in Costa Rica's mangrove forests. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-racemosa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-racemosa.html The dominant red mangrove of Térraba-Sierpe, this species prefers brackish waters where rivers dilute the sea. Its towering stilt roots create the underwater nurseries that sustain Costa Rica's coastal fisheries. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-rojo-hibrido.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-rojo-hibrido.html A natural hybrid red mangrove whose arching prop roots create underwater labyrinths where juvenile hammerhead sharks find refuge. This species bridges ocean and forest in Golfo Dulce and Térraba-Sierpe. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-salado.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-salado.html A Pacific coast endemic that thrives in hypersaline mudflats where other mangroves cannot survive. Its pencil-like breathing roots allow it to form some of the most productive mangrove forests in the Western Hemisphere. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-rojo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-rojo.html The iconic mangrove with arching prop roots that stride into the sea. This keystone species creates nursery habitat for countless fish species while protecting Costa Rica's coastlines from storms and erosion. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cavendishia-bracteata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cavendishia-bracteata.html A cloud forest jewel with cascading clusters of coral-pink bracts and tubular red flowers that attract hummingbirds, bearing small edible berries prized as mountain grapes. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mortino-poas.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mortino-poas.html A cloud forest blueberry that grows both on the ground and as an epiphyte high in the canopy. First discovered on Volcán Poás in 1896, this species produces small bell-shaped flowers and colorful berries. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-pinuela.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-pinuela.html A living fossil and the sole survivor of Eocene mangroves, this species is the only mangrove pollinated by a vertebrate: the endangered Mangrove Hummingbird, found nowhere else but Costa Rica. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/arrayan-de-monte.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/arrayan-de-monte.html A fire-resilient blueberry shrub of Costa Rica's highest peaks, this páramo specialist resprouts from underground rhizomes after the flames that periodically sweep across the Talamanca highlands. Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/encino-negro.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/encino-negro.html A montane oak of Central America's cloud forests, where its acorns feed wildlife and its dense wood has fueled charcoal production for generations. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/escobo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/escobo.html A Costa Rican endemic discovered only in 1990, this giant of the Pacific lowlands remained hidden in plain sight despite being one of the country's most massive trees. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sura.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sura.html A towering rainforest emergent with silky, pale-orange bark that peels in paper-thin sheets, prized for its heavy 'dragonwood' timber with intricate grain patterns. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-copey.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-copey.html The white oak giant of Costa Rica's cloud forests. Named for the village of Copey de Dota, this species was once described as forming "perhaps the largest single stand of oak timber in the world." Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/encino.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/encino.html An endangered oak of Central American cloud forests, bearing some of the largest acorns in the world. Populations have declined by over 80% as coffee plantations replaced its misty mountain habitat. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-seemann.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-seemann.html A red oak of Central American cloud forests ranging from Mexico to Panama, named for German botanist Berthold Seemann. Distinguished by its bronzy-red new growth that matures to glossy green. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-trelease.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-trelease.html A towering red oak of Costa Rica and Panama's wet montane forests, named for American botanist William Trelease. Can reach 50 meters in height and is part of the Q. seemannii complex. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-corrugata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-corrugata.html A towering deciduous oak of Central American cloud forests, reaching 60 meters in height with distinctive wrinkled leaves that give it its name. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-huevo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-huevo.html A large white oak of Central America's montane forests, named for its egg-shaped acorns and distinguished by enormous leaves that can reach nearly half a meter in length. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-bentham.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-bentham.html A towering red oak of Central America's highest cloud forests, reaching up to 40 meters and known for its deeply lobed leaves that turn bronze before falling. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/encino-lanceolado.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/encino-lanceolado.html A large deciduous oak of Central American cloud forests, named for its distinctive lance-shaped leaves with their silvery-white undersides. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/escobo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/escobo.html A rare and magnificent canopy giant endemic to Costa Rica's southern Pacific lowlands, discovered only in 1990 and known from just two national parks. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-cortes.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-cortes.html A graceful cloud forest oak distinguished by its narrowly lanceolate leaves with spine-tipped teeth. Part of the Series Acutifoliae, it ranges from Mexico to Panama in mid-elevation forests. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-brenes.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-brenes.html A small red oak of Central American cloud forests (Mexico to Costa Rica), distinguished by aristate-toothed leaves. Named for Alberto Manuel Brenes, Costa Rica's pioneering botanist. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/magnolia-poasana.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/magnolia-poasana.html A magnolia of the cloud forests, named for the Poás Volcano where it was first collected. Produces large, fragrant white flowers and is classified as Near Threatened due to habitat loss. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/magnolia-savegre.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/magnolia-savegre.html A recently discovered cloud forest magnolia endemic to Costa Rica's Savegre Valley, where ancient oaks and resplendent quetzals share the misty highlands of the Talamanca Mountains. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/magnolia-sororum.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/magnolia-sororum.html A towering magnolia of Central American cloud forests, producing fragrant white flowers and distinctive aggregate fruits with bright pink seeds. This near-threatened species reaches the upper limits of the montane zone. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/magnolia-gloriensis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/magnolia-gloriensis.html One of Central America's most primitive flowering trees, still pollinated by beetles as it has been for over 100 million years. First discovered in coffee plantations at La Gloria, Cartago. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-blanco.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mangle-blanco.html The white mangrove excretes salt through specialized glands, thriving in coastal estuaries where it pioneers new mud banks and provides critical nursery habitat for marine life. Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-battle-for-osa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-battle-for-osa.html Mass tourism advocates are actively working to bring Guanacaste-style development to the Osa Peninsula through three fronts: a $105 million airport, doubled park capacity, and a Hilton-branded marina. The outcome will determine whether the model that works can survive the pressures that don't. Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/caoba.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/caoba.html The true mahogany, whose wood built the Age of Mahogany and furnished European palaces, now CITES-listed and commercially extinct in Costa Rica's wild forests after centuries of exploitation. Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/fruta-dorada.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/fruta-dorada.html A pillar of the primary rainforest, this nutmeg relative rises with an arrow-straight trunk through the understory, producing golden capsules with scarlet-wrapped seeds eagerly sought by toucans and guans. Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-negro.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/roble-negro.html The Costa Rican black oak dominates the cloud forests of the Talamanca range, where ancient specimens tower 50 meters above the mist. Endemic and vulnerable, these slow-growing giants can live over 500 years. Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-battle-for-osa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-battle-for-osa.html Mass tourism advocates are actively working to bring Guanacaste-style development to the Osa Peninsula through three fronts: a $105 million airport, doubled park capacity, and a Hilton-branded marina. Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aguacatillo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aguacatillo.html A fast-growing pioneer of the avocado family, this tall forest tree produces the lipid-rich fruits that sustain quetzals, bellbirds, and toucans through lean seasons. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/canelo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/canelo.html A small understory tree with cinnamon-scented bark, producing olive-like fruits in pink cupules that attract forest birds. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aguacatillo-floribunda.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aguacatillo-floribunda.html One of the tallest aguacatillos, this 40-meter canopy giant produces spherical fruits nearly year-round, providing a reliable food source for forest frugivores. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ira.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ira.html A versatile aguacatillo that thrives from sea level to cloud forest, spanning nearly 2,000 meters of elevation across Central America. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/laurel-geo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/laurel-geo.html A widespread aguacatillo found from Mexico to Brazil, known for its light-colored wood and dense, rounded crown. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aguacatillo-mollifolia.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aguacatillo-mollifolia.html A regional endemic of humid lowland forests, found only in Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aguacatillo-rio.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/aguacatillo-rio.html Ocotea rivularis, a vulnerable Costa Rican endemic known from only two observations, clinging to the stream banks of the Osa Peninsula. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/quizarra-macho.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/quizarra-macho.html A small understory tree with hollow stems that house entire ant colonies, raising questions about whether the relationship benefits the tree or exploits it. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/amarillon.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/amarillon.html A forest giant reaching 70 meters, the amarillón is one of Costa Rica's most successful native reforestation species, prized for its golden timber and towering buttressed trunk. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cenizaro.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cenizaro.html The rain tree, whose massive umbrella crown can shelter an entire herd of cattle while its leaves fold at dusk and during storms, directing rainwater to the soil below. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/carao.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/carao.html The pink shower tree bursts into spectacular bloom on bare branches each dry season, then produces pods filled with a sweet black pulp that Costa Ricans have used for centuries as a traditional remedy for anemia. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mata-raton.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/mata-raton.html The "quick stick" that may be the most common living fence in the tropics, this nitrogen-fixing tree shapes Central America's agricultural landscape while its toxic seeds have killed rodents for centuries. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cedro-maria.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cedro-maria.html Two near-identical species of Calophyllum grow in Costa Rica's wet forests, producing mahogany-grade timber and a healing resin called "Bálsamo de María." Only their leaf and flower size tells them apart. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cedro-maria.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cedro-maria.html Calophyllum longifolium is the larger-leaved, Pacific-slope twin of Costa Rica's Calophyllum pair, supplying bálsamo de María resin and mahogany-grade timber from plantations and coastal forests alike. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/caobilla.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/caobilla.html A mahogany relative of flooded forests, this buttressed swamp giant produces oil-rich seeds used for centuries as insect repellent and medicine throughout tropical America. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/muneco.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/muneco.html The dioecious pioneer of Costa Rica's dry Pacific forests. With sandpaper-textured leaves, a distinctive whitish folded trunk, and sweet red fruits, this drought-tolerant Cordia fills a niche its famous cousin the laurel cannot. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/muneco-blanco.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/muneco-blanco.html The two-toned Cordia of humid forests. Flip a leaf and the contrast is immediate: dark green above, rough white below. This fast-growing pioneer produces yellow fruits that feed forest birds from Mexico to Brazil. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/laurel-negro.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/laurel-negro.html The giant of the Cordias. Growing up to 60 meters in the wet forests of Central America, this timber tree produces flowers so large they earned it the name megalantha. Its wood rivals the famous laurel in quality. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ficus-maxima.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ficus-maxima.html A free-standing fig of riverbanks and disturbed forests, this species supports more insect diversity on a single tree than almost any other in the Neotropics. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/welfia-regia.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/welfia-regia.html The amargo palm dominates the wet forests of Costa Rica's Golfo Dulce region, its dramatic red new leaves unfurling like flames against the green canopy. Though its heart of palm was once prized, harvesting it kills the tree. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/iriartea-deltoidea.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/iriartea-deltoidea.html The pot-bellied palm rises on black stilt roots throughout tropical America, where it ranks as the most abundant canopy tree in many Amazonian forests. Indigenous communities prize its hard outer wood for flooring, canoes, and blowguns. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cannonball.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cannonball.html A tree that flowers on its trunk, deceives its pollinators with fake pollen, and drops fruits heavy enough to kill. The cannonball tree is one of the most unusual members of the Brazil nut family. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pejibaye.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pejibaye.html The domesticated peach palm, cultivated for 10,000 years from Panama to Bolivia, whose clumping habit provides sustainable heart of palm while its orange fruits remain a staple food across Latin America. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sandbox.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/sandbox.html The "dynamite tree" shoots its seeds like bullets, bleeds toxic sap used for poison arrows, and bristles with spines that earn it another name: monkey-no-climb. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chontadura.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chontadura.html The most heavily armored palm in Costa Rica's forests, its trunk bristling with needle-sharp spines up to 17 centimeters long. This fortress of a tree guards its orange fruits until they fall to the forest floor. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cedro-amargo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cedro-amargo.html The legendary "Spanish cedar" whose aromatic, insect-repelling wood has lined cigar boxes and crafted fine furniture for centuries, now threatened by overexploitation throughout its range. Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cecropia-obtusifolia.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cecropia-obtusifolia.html The hollow-stemmed pioneer tree that feeds sloths and houses armies of Azteca ants in one of nature's oldest partnerships, stretching back eight million years. Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pourouma-bicolor.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/pourouma-bicolor.html The guarumo's larger cousin produces grape-like fruits that feed toucans and monkeys, while its rough leaves once served as the sandpaper of the rainforest. Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cecropia-peltata.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/cecropia-peltata.html The hollow-stemmed pioneer that gave indigenous peoples their trumpets, drums, and blowguns. More drought-tolerant than its rainforest cousin, it dominates Costa Rica's drier Pacific lowlands. Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/laurel.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/laurel.html The garlic-scented timber tree that transformed Costa Rican agriculture. Growing in coffee plantations across the country, this fast-growing pioneer provides shade and a savings account when coffee prices crash. Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/strangler-figs.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/strangler-figs.html Six species of strangler figs inhabit Costa Rica's Brunca region, including two endemics found nowhere else on Earth. All share the same life strategy: germinate in the canopy, embrace the host, and outlive it by centuries. Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/adelaida-chaverri.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/adelaida-chaverri.html Weeks after a conservationist was murdered, Adelaida Chaverri walked into Corcovado to document what was worth dying for. She spent the rest of her life defending its highest peak. Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/gerardo-budowski.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/gerardo-budowski.html As IUCN Director General, Gerardo Budowski challenged how wealthy nations extracted knowledge from developing countries—then spent his life building frameworks for coexistence. Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/walking-palm.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/walking-palm.html The palm that supposedly walks through the forest on stilt roots. The legend is false, but the science behind this remarkable tree is even more interesting than the myth. Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/indio-desnudo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/indio-desnudo.html The "naked Indian" tree, named for its peeling copper-red bark. A member of the frankincense family, it was sacred to the Maya and remains one of the most important pioneer species for dry forest restoration. Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/espavel.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/espavel.html The wild cashew, a massive riverside giant whose fruits feed monkeys, peccaries, and bats across the Neotropics. Its tolerance of diverse conditions makes it ideal for riparian restoration. Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guanacaste.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guanacaste.html Costa Rica's national tree, an iconic shade giant of the dry tropics whose ear-shaped pods once fed Pleistocene megafauna and now symbolize an entire province and nation. Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ceiba.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ceiba.html The sacred World Tree of Maya civilization, the ceiba towers above the rainforest canopy as one of the largest trees in the Americas. Its massive buttress roots and bat-pollinated flowers make it a keystone species across the Neotropics. Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guapinol.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/guapinol.html The stinking toe tree produces ancient copal resin that becomes amber, preserving insects for millions of years. Today, agoutis bury its seeds, continuing a partnership that began when mastodons still roamed. Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chilamate.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/chilamate.html A keystone species of the rainforest, the chilamate sustains more wildlife than almost any other tree. Its survival depends on a wasp so small you could fit a dozen on your fingernail. Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/balsa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/balsa.html The world's lightest commercial wood comes from this fast-growing pioneer tree. From Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki raft to modern wind turbine blades, balsa has shaped human history. Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/jobo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/jobo.html The wild plum of the Neotropics, whose tangy yellow fruits feed spider monkeys and squirrel monkeys. One of the few deciduous trees in the rainforest, it drops all its leaves before bursting into fragrant white bloom. Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-osa-model.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-osa-model.html Mass tourism and ecotourism aren't two points on a spectrum. They're different systems with different physics. One extracts value until the resource degrades. One generates value by maintaining what visitors pay to see. Carrying capacity determines which system is possible. Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/almendro-de-playa.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/almendro-de-playa.html The beach almond is an introduced coastal tree from Southeast Asia, now naturalized along Costa Rica's Pacific beaches where its fruits feed Scarlet Macaws. Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/almendro.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/almendro.html A towering keystone species of Central American rainforests, the almendro provides critical nesting habitat for the Great Green Macaw. Now planted in the Brunca Region for habitat restoration. Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ajo.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/ajo.html Costa Rica's endemic garlic tree, named for the pungent scent of its yellow flowers that attract bat pollinators, and a critical nesting tree for Scarlet Macaws. Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/olla-de-mono.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/trees/olla-de-mono.html The monkey pot tree, named for its remarkable pot-shaped fruit that inspired centuries of folklore about trapping greedy monkeys. Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-osa-model.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-osa-model.html Mass tourism and ecotourism aren't two points on a spectrum. They're different systems with different physics. One extracts value until the resource degrades. One generates value by maintaining what visitors pay to see. Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-guanacaste-model.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-guanacaste-model.html Peninsula Papagayo markets itself as sustainable while operating like a colonial extraction system. The all-inclusive resort model treats natural capital like ore deposits to be mined and exported. Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-guanacaste-model.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-guanacaste-model.html Peninsula Papagayo markets itself as sustainable while operating like a colonial extraction system. The all-inclusive resort model treats natural capital like ore deposits to be mined and exported. Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-invention.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-invention.html Costa Rica pioneered authentic ecotourism in the 1980s, building a model the world tried to copy. Now luxury developers exploit the legal framework designed to protect small ecolodges. Sat, 06 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-invention.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/ecotourism-invention.html Costa Rica pioneered authentic ecotourism in the 1980s, building a model the world tried to copy. Now luxury developers exploit the legal framework designed to protect small ecolodges. Sat, 06 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/pes-reform-21st-century.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/pes-reform-21st-century.html Costa Rica's pioneering conservation payments made forests worth more standing than cleared—until land prices changed the math. Sat, 29 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/wildlife-corridors-trees.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/wildlife-corridors-trees.html When we think about wildlife corridors, we picture jaguars and monkeys. But there are invisible passengers traveling these green highways, and their journey takes centuries. Fri, 21 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/karen-olsen.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/karen-olsen.html Karen Olsen de Figueres, a Copenhagen-born sociologist turned First Lady, built the political foundation that made Costa Rica's park system possible—and kept it alive when it mattered most. Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/christopher-vaughan.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/christopher-vaughan.html In 1994, Christopher Vaughan sat down with macaw poachers and turned them into conservationists—building a model that saved 800 birds and trained a continent. Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/levi-sucre-romero.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/levi-sucre-romero.html A Bribri farmer from Costa Rica's mountains became the global voice for 35 million Indigenous forest guardians—and exposed the broken promise of climate finance with a single devastating statistic. Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/tom-lovejoy.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/tom-lovejoy.html Tom Lovejoy's forty-year experiment in the Amazon revealed the scientific blueprint for understanding what's at stake in Costa Rica's fragmenting corridors. Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/karen-mogensen.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/karen-mogensen.html After Olof's murder, local authorities came for the forest. Karen Mogensen converted her home into a lodge, slept on a storage-room bench to pay the tax bills, and held a nineteen-year vigil that anchored two conservation reserves. Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/leslie-holdridge.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/leslie-holdridge.html Before Costa Rica could save its forests, it needed to name them. A botanist spent a lifetime turning climate data into a universal language for understanding where life happens. Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/joseph-tosi.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/joseph-tosi.html When Costa Rica's government paid citizens to clear forests as 'improvement,' one scientist fought back with data, proving that cleared cattle pastures were actually Tropical Wet Forest—and giving a nation the scientific justification to save itself. Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/archie-carr.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/archie-carr.html Archie Carr found a single turtle track on an empty beach and sparked a movement that brought the great fleets back from the edge of extinction. Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/rodrigo-gamez.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/rodrigo-gamez.html Selling the rainforest to save it: Rodrigo Gámez-Lobo's ambitious business model failed, but his catalog of 3.5 million specimens survived. Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/carlos-rodriguez.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/carlos-rodriguez.html From his grandfather's failed farm to leading a $5.33 billion global fund, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez spent his life learning how to make markets work for forests instead of against them. Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/rene-castro-salazar.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/rene-castro-salazar.html René Castro Salazar created SINAC, orchestrated the passage of both the Forest and Biodiversity Laws, and built the payment system that made conservation financially sustainable. Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/mario-boza.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/mario-boza.html An agronomist discovered that forests could be more valuable standing than cut, then spent his life proving it—turning ecotourism into Costa Rica's largest earner of foreign capital. Thu, 13 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/alvaro-ugalde.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/alvaro-ugalde.html Álvaro Ugalde turned Costa Rica's burning frontier into a living park system, then spent his last breath keeping it alive. Thu, 13 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/olof-wessberg.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/olof-wessberg.html With letters and machetes, Olof Wessberg and Karen Mogensen created Costa Rica's first protected area, then paid for Corcovado's survival with a life. Wed, 12 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/daniel-janzen.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/personas/daniel-janzen.html Sixty years of patient work demolished the false choice between people and nature—proving that conservation succeeds when communities become partners, not adversaries. Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/documenting-evidence.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/documenting-evidence.html A photo without GPS coordinates is just a picture. Learn how to document violations so your evidence survives legal scrutiny, using GPS-tagged photos and systematic field monitoring. Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/community-organizing.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/community-organizing.html When developers threaten your neighborhood, mass protests aren't the first step. Learn how to build a core group, frame issues that resonate, and organize low-stress collective actions that actually work. Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/biodiversity-wildlife-laws.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/biodiversity-wildlife-laws.html Document a jaguar or macaw on threatened land? You've just invoked Resolution 092-2017 protecting 322+ species, while the precautionary principle puts burden of proof on developers. Sat, 11 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/paso-de-la-danta.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/paso-de-la-danta.html How a grassroots conservation initiative led by Jack Ewing and ASANA became one of Costa Rica's most vital wildlife corridors, and why its protection matters for the future of Brunca Region biodiversity. Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/handbook-introduction.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/handbook-introduction.html You don't need a law degree to defend Costa Rica's forests because you need a smartphone with GPS and willingness to file complaints. How you can stop environmental crimes. Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/opposing-development.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/opposing-development.html Trying to stop illegal development? Answer a few questions, get your customized action plan with agencies, evidence, and escalation strategies. Tue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/property-research.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/property-research.html Property titles and survey maps are registered separately and often don't match. How to navigate incompatible coordinate systems, fragmented databases, and conflicting records. Tue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/present/ecosystemcrisis.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/present/ecosystemcrisis.html Witness Costa Rica's greatest conservation paradox: world-leading environmental laws undermined by weak enforcement. See how luxury development threatens irreplaceable rainforest ecosystems and what we're doing to stop it. Sun, 05 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/how-you-can-help.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/blog/how-you-can-help.html Every contribution matters in the fight to protect Costa Rica's irreplaceable forests, including donations, volunteering skills, protecting land, or organizing your community. Sun, 05 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/forest-revolution.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/forest-revolution.html How a tropical nation nearly destroyed its forests in 50 years, then became the first to reverse deforestation. A deep dive into Costa Rica's conservation revolution and the forces that now threaten to undo it. Sun, 05 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/conservation-laws.html https://coalicionfloresta.org/analysis/conservation-laws.html Article 50 establishes a revolutionary principle where every citizen can defend the environment. Your complete guide to every conservation law that matters. 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