每日港股评析.pptVIP

COSTA RICA PART 2 – ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT Will Cobbins III Omorotimi Lewis Catherine Lomax Noam Glick Rainforest Background 100 years ago, rainforests covered 2 billion hectares (14% of earth’s land surface). Today, only half remains. At current rate of destruction, world’s rainforests will vanish within 40 years. Environmental Protection in Costa Rica Costa Rica has one of the world’s best conservation plans One quarter of the country is under some form of official protection Has won numerous awards for their environmental efforts Still, almost entire country has been deforested outside of national parks/reserves Causes of Deforestation Logging, ranching, and development of large-scale commercial agriculture to blame (especially cattle ranching) 1960s - large tracts of virgin forest were destroyed to make room for cattle Government Policies to Address Deforestation “Paradox of good intent and poor application” Alleged mismanagement of reserves and refuges Forestry Directorate (now Ministry of Natural Resources) accused of being inefficient Government Policies (cont’d) 1970s - government bans export of more than 60 diminishing tree species; becomes illegal to cut timber without proper permits Illegal deforestation nevertheless continues Rafael Calderon administration friendly toward agricultural expansion - eliminates key clause in the forestry law designed to protect remaining forests Government promotes reforestation with tax breaks doesn’t restore old growth trees Government Policies (cont’d) Land set asides won worldwide admiration with national park creation in 1970 10.27% declared “inviolate of a land once compared to Eden” 17% set aside as forest reserves, “buffer zones”, wildlife refuges, and Indian reserves Currently, there are 20 national parks, 8 biological reserves, 26 protected zones, 9 forest reserves, and 7 fauna sanctuaries Government Policies (cont’d) International efforts A plethora of conservation groups and projects Debt-for-nat