As you can see from the billboards urging people to "prevent forest fires," that attitude is changing. And so is the landscape. "This used to be 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres) of beautiful green grass," Janzen said ironically, "and now, the only place I can take you to see to get a photo of pure grass is in the firebreaks." (These strips of land are burned every year to prevent fires from sweeping into the conservation area, and they're filled with pasture grass.)

...then let the wind blow
With fire control succeeding, many native tree species are being replanted by the wind. Some species, whose seeds are heavier, have been planted to speed up the reforestation. Eventually, over the course of decades and centuries, a protected example of the dry forest should reappear. To read more about the restoration, see "The Guanacaste Idea" in our bibliography.

Guiselle Brennes, forestry supervisor at Guanacaste Conservation Area, with a tree seedling planted to hasten reforestation.

The restoration is part of a larger plan to invent a new form of conservation area, one that is more suited to Costa Rica's situation. Although, like a national park, Guanacaste Conservation Area is supposed to preserve nature, it is also intended to provide good jobs and income. For starters, it employs only Costa Ricans. But the forest restoration will increase habitat available for the search for profitable natural chemicals being performed by Costa Rica's National Institute for Biodiversity.

You can read more about the larger plan to convert nature in "The Greening of Costa Rica".

Otherwise, how about some limitations on the use of controlled burns here in the United States?

There are 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 documents. (Glossary | Bibliography)