$87.5 million for forests LA NACION Dec. 2.007

Costa Rica will invest $87.5 in the preservation of forests during the next five years. The funds come from three main sources, a $30-million loan from the World Bank, a $10-million donation from the Global Environmental Facility, and $47.5 million contributed by the Government of Costa Rica. Currently, Costa Rica’s green cover is 51.4 percent of the territory, 25 percent of which is already made up of national parks and protected areas. There remains another 25 percent with the potential to be protected, according to official sources, and that could be achieved by paying environmental services to the current private owners of that land.