Costa Rica

How feasible are global forest restoration commitments?

BACKGROUND

Many countries pledged large pieces of land for Forest Landscape Restoration to the Bonn challenge and the UNFCCC Paris Accords. The highest pledges came from the global South. Two countries have met their Bonn challenge so far. Some countries are facing challenges including deficit of the land committed, and there are competing land uses between FLR agricultural land.

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Restoration of Degraded Tropical Forest Landscapes

BACKGROUND

Forest loss and degradation negatively affect rural communities whose livelihoods are dependent on forests for ecological goods and services. To address the challenge, three solutions have been proposed, expanding networks of protected areas, improving agricultural productivity on abandoned lands and reforestation. Of the three, new approaches to restoration have shown to have the potential to address forest degradation and rural poverty.

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Vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change in Central America and Mexico: current knowledge and research gaps

Background

This article recognizes that smallholder farmers are both critical to the global agricultural sector yet are one of the most vulnerable populations to climate change. Specifically, farmers in Central America and Mexico are experiences particularly high threats, thus the authors focus on this subgroup.

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The biogeochemical heterogeneity of tropical forests

Background

This paper states that there has been a breadth of knowledge in relation to the biodiversity of tropical forests but limited about on the abiotic diversity, particularly biogeochemical effects. These later factors are becoming increasingly important to understand due to human perturbations in these forests. 

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Nitrogen-fixing trees inhibit growth of regenerating Costa Rican rainforests

BACKGROUND

Nitrogen fixing plants are the primary source of nitrogen in forests, and it is expected that more nitrogen fixers will bring in faster growth. Hence this study conducted, in a humid tropical rainforest North- East Costa Rica, challenged this notion. The area of study had similar dominant species, with P. macroloba being the most dominant Nitrogen fixer.

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Leaf litter arthropod responses to tropical forest restoration

Background

Soil and litter arthropods play critical roles in tropical ecosystem function including driving organic matter decomposition and nitrogen mineralization. With the increasing need for forest restoration projects, it is important to know how these arthropod communities respond to a variety of restoration strategies and techniques in order to maintain healthy ecosystem function. This study was conducted in a mixed-use agricultural landscape in southern Costa Rica, in an effort to contribute to local restoration research efforts.

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Applied nucleation facilitates tropical forest recovery: Lessons learned from a 15‐year study

Background

This study examines the technique of applied nucleation, which is based on the planting of tree islands, as a means of cost-effective assisted natural regeneration. 

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Tropical Montane Forest Restoration in Costa Rica: Overcoming Bariers to Dispersal and Establishment

Background

The article addressed different types of environmental and ecological factors limiting forest regeneration on a tropical montane abandoned pasture in Costa Rica, and the subsequent forest restoration strategies that could be feasible.  The authors sought to answer the following questions: 1) What factors limit tropical forest recovery in abandoned pasture? and (2) How can we use this information to design strategies to facilitate ecosystem recovery?

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Impacts of payments for environmental services on local development in northern Costa Rica: A fuzzy multi-criteria analysis

Background

This paper evaluates the impacts of reforestation projects conducted through Costa Rica's Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) program, which pays landowners for different forest uses. The researchers developed an evaluaton framework that was first based on a set of prinicipals (economic, social, institutional, biological) that were in-term subdivided into different categories. These evaluation criteria were evaluated and weighted through the help of local experts, then used to guide a series of landowner interviews.

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Lattice-work corridors for climate change: a conceptual framework for biodiversity conservation and social-ecological resilience in a tropical elevational gradient

Background

Open access copy available
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