Forests sustain and protect us in a myriad of ways. They absorb carbon dioxide and provide us with oxygen, they harbour more than three quarters of terrestrial biodiversity, and they support the livelihoods of millions of people worldwide. But the world has lost 420 million hectares of forest since 1990. …
during the last three decades, a volcano has been erupting regularly in Arenal, Costa Rica. In 1992, geophysicist Milton Garces, based at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, usa, took a step no one had ever dared to even dream of. He climbed up Arenal's rainforest slopes to listen to …
The Biodiversity Law in Costa Rica was the first of its kind in the world to encapsulate all the principles of the International Biodiversity Treaty signed at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. The law ensures sustainable use of organic resources, and fair distribution of the benefits and …
Body Shop is one of the largest companies in the herbal cosmetics market. Consequently, it is one of the largest users of the bioresources and traditional knowledge systems of the world. In order to understand the company's policy in acquiring its raw materials, Down To Earth tried, more than once, …
THE 1990s have seen revolutionary developments in the field of biotechnology across the world. Genetic and biochemical materials are now seen as invaluable information. Major pharmaceutical companies, seed companies and cosmetic manufacturers see them as raw materials for multi-million-dollar businesses. Researchers from the corporate sector and research institutes are vigorously …
efforts to promote ecotourism in the Manuel Antonio National Park in Quepos, Costa Rica, seem to have boomeranged. Every year, thousands of tourists visit the 680 ha park, which is home to capuchin monkeys, two-toed sloths, poisonous dart frogs, the long-tailed coatimundi and scarlet macaws. Authorities have banned camping in …
THE NETHERLANDS is negotiating 10-year, bilateral, sustainable development agreements with Bhutan, Benin and Costa Rica, which, Dutch officials say, will be strikingly different from other such treaties. The agreements recognise that the rich should reduce their use of global resources, repay their ecological debt and assist the poor in improving …
