|
Why is it important to save the Osa?
The Osa in southwestern Costa Rica is one of the most bio-diverse habitats in the world. Nowhere else on the planet does such a small area (about 400,000 acres) contain so many distinct tropical ecosystems.
The Osa harbors nearly 5000 species of vascular plants, including over 700 species of trees, many of which are endangered. Biologists estimate that between 2 to 3 percent of the flora of the Osa exists nowhere else on Earth.
Costa Rica created Corcovado National Park
in 1975 with help from The Nature Conservancy. Encompassing one-third of the Osa peninsula, Corcovado contains at least 13 major ecosystems, including lowland forests, cloud forests, mangrove and freshwater swamps, lagoons, beaches, and coral reefs.
Jaguar, puma and ocelots survive here, and the protected terrain of Corcovado is also critical habitat for other wide-ranging mammals such as tapir and whitelipped peccaries. Although they have disappeared from
the rest of the country's Pacific coast, packs of peccaries still move through the Osa, serving as the jaguars' primary prey.
The Osa contains the largest mangrove forests on the Pacific coast of Central America and is critical habitat for aquatic birds. Tweny-five species of dolphins and whales have been spotted in the waters west of the Peninsula and in the unique Golfo Dulce to the east.
The beaches surrounding the Osa
are major nesting grounds for four species of endangered sea turtles. Also, Corcovado and the Isla del Caņo are two of the only places remaining where corral reef exists only meters away from pristine tropical forest.
Although the eco-systems of the Osa have survived intact and balanced for thousands of years; poaching, over-fishing, logging, unsustainable agriculture and resort development threatens its biodiversity and beauty.
By adopting acres in the Osa region of Costa Rica, you are helping to ensure the lasting health and viability of these breathtaking and life-sustaining landscapes.
What is an "adoption"?
There are 3 steps to the adoption.
- Purchase the land.
- Protect the land.
- Educate the indigenous people in developing
ways for sustainable coexistence
Climate change and the rainforest
Protect rainforests to combat Climate Change
Rainforests lock up atmospheric carbon in their vegetation via photosynthesis. When forests are destroyed, large amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases which trap heat within our atmosphere. A huge increase in man-made greenhouse gases in the last 150 years is upsetting the balance of heat absorbed and released by the Earth's atmosphere. This has increased temperatures and caused climate changes worldwide. Deforestation accounts for almost 20% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
Effects of climate change on our planet are happening now: melting glaciers, increased severe storms and droughts, loss of arable land and habitat for people, animal and plants. In the future, rising sea levels from melting artic ice could displace millions of people globally. Cleared and fragmented forests also absorb less carbon than intact forests, produce less oxygen and offer less protection from severe storms like hurricanes and tsunamis.
Carbon credits: What is an acre of rainforest really worth?
Climate change's enormous costs to society worldwide have led to the idea of carbon credits: assigning monetary value to carbon emissions and the things that counter them. In this economic model, industry can pay for excess carbon emissions by investing in conservation projects. This combats climate change and preserves biodiversity while improving living standards in developing nations. The World Bank estimates that deforested land worth $200-500 per hectare as pasture could be worth $1,500-$10,000 if left as intact forest and used to offset carbon emissions from industrialized countries. With over $21 billion in carbon credits traded for the first 6 months of 2007 (41% increase from a year ago,) this idea poses new hope for conservation and climate change.
|
