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The History of Costa Rica's Forests
3 articles
How Costa Rica's forests came to be, how the settlers cleared most of them in a generation, and what the regrowth story tells us about what was lost.
History
It Was Just Pasture
Costa Rica's forest cover climbed from 21 to 52 percent. The recovery is real. It is also a real-estate sales pitch, and the part it leaves out is the part worth telling.
History
The First Tree
Seventy million years of tectonic collision and pioneer colonization built the most species-dense country on Earth. The settlers cleared most of it in a generation.
History
The People Who Knew the Forest
For 12,000 years, indigenous peoples managed Costa Rica's forests as living systems. The forests they shaped were better than pristine.