Search Climate Insights Directory

This guide details the success factors and lessons learned from the Scaling Up Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Measures in Rural Latin America (EbA LAC) initiative, which focused on scaling up nature-based solutions in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala.

This executive summary describes a project evaluating the effectiveness of forest reserves and payments for ecosystem services (PSAs) in reducing deforestation within tropical dry forests in Costa Rica and Brazil, emphasizing the need to control for biophysical and socioeconomic drivers to avoid overestimating policy impacts.

The Nature-Based Infrastructure (NBI) Global Resource Centre conducted a cost-benefit analysis of ecosystem-based adaptation in Costa Rica's Reventazón River basin to stabilize hydrology and secure water and energy supplies.

The report details the proceedings of the 55th meeting of the Executive Council (EC-55) of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), held on June 20, 2023, in Panama City and via videoconference. The meeting focused on financial sustainability, leadership transitions, and regional climate initiatives.

This report, produced by Transforma as part of the STEP project, outlines best practices for the financial and environmental sustainability of scientific stations, using the Organization for Tropical Studies (OET) in Costa Rica as a primary case study. It argues that scientific stations cannot be 100% self-sustainable through research alone and must strategically integrate 'Amateur Scientific Tourism' to fund 'Investigative Scientific Tourism'.

This case study examines Costa Rica's transition from high rates of deforestation to net forest restoration between 1986 and 2005. It highlights how a combination of market shifts, policy changes, and financial incentives—most notably the Pago de Servicios Ambientales (PSA) system—contributed to increasing forest cover from 41 percent in 1986 to 48 percent by 2005.

The IAI Executive Directorate report for May-August 2005 outlines the appointment of a new Executive Director and Program Manager, the pursuit of observer status with the UNFCCC, and the management of scientific projects including CRN I and II. It details the organization of training institutes in Paraguay and Jamaica, the integration of the Amazon Andean GIS Web Portal into the IAI-DIS, and the approval of key administrative manuals.

This case study examines Platanera Rio Sixaola, S.A., a small independent banana plantation in Costa Rica founded by Volker Ribniger. Despite becoming the first banana plantation in the world to earn Eco-OK certification from the Rainforest Alliance, the company faced significant financial challenges in 1994, with production costs exceeding revenues. The document details the environmental impacts of traditional banana monoculture, the specific sustainable practices implemented by Platanera Rio Sixaola, and the market pressures exerted by the 'Big Three' multinationals and European Community import quotas.

This report details the progress of Project RLA/92/G34, an initiative by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) supported by UNDP, GEF, and WMO to investigate global change in member countries. It covers training in GIS and meteorological data processing, equipment upgrades, the establishment of experimental network nodes, and a specific proposal for a CO2 observational network in the Amazon Basin to study carbon fluxes and the impact of land-use change.