Case Example: Costa Rica

Between 1986 and 2005, Costa Rica increased its forest area by 394,000 hectares, primarily through passive restoration on abandoned pastures. This success is attributed to a combination of crisis-driven motivation, ecological viability, and market shifts—specifically the decline of the cattle industry and the rise of eco-tourism. While the Pago de Servicios Ambientales (PSA) system is a well-known financial incentive, the document argues that structural economic changes and restrictive forestry laws were equally or more critical to the country's reforestation outcomes.

• Costa Rica experienced a significant decline in forest cover from 77 percent of land area in 1943 to 41 percent by 1986, driven by cattle grazing and crop production. Following this, the country achieved a net increase in forest area of 394,000 hectares by 2005, reaching 48 percent coverage.
• The decline of the cattle industry was a primary driver of restoration. A fall in international beef prices and the removal of national subsidies—part of a World Bank structural adjustment program—reduced the profitability of ranching, leading the national cattle herd to drop from 2.1 million heads in 1989 to 1.4 million by 2000.
• Legislative restrictions played a critical role in preventing further deforestation. Forestry Law No. 7575, passed in 1996, banned the conversion of forested land and the export of round wood and squared timber, while also removing previous taxes on 'unproductive' land that had incentivized deforestation.
• The Pago de Servicios Ambientales (PSA) system, established in 1996, provided direct payments for forest protection, reforestation, and agroforestry, funded by a 3.5 percent fossil fuel tax. However, the document notes that the PSA may have biased toward wealthier landowners and that some participants would have protected forests even without the program due to existing laws.
• The growth of the tourism industry provided a strong economic incentive for conservation. The number of international tourists visiting Costa Rica increased from 60,000 in 1986 to 1.7 million in 2005, fostering market conditions that favored restored natural forests.

APA

Buckingham, K., & Hanson, C. (2015). Case Example: Costa Rica. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Costa_Rica.pdf

Chicago

Buckingham, Kathleen, and Craig Hanson. Case Example: Costa Rica. World Resources Institute, 2015. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Costa_Rica.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Buckingham |first1=Kathleen |last2=Hanson |first2=Craig |title=Case Example: Costa Rica |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=2015 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Costa_Rica.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{buckingham2015case, author = {Buckingham, Kathleen and Hanson, Craig}, title = {{Case Example: Costa Rica}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2015}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Costa_Rica.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }