Deforestation in Costa Rica: A quantitative analysis using remote sensing imagery

Accurate estimates of forest cover and forest fragmentation are critical fo r developing countries such as Costa Pica, which holds four to five percent of the world's plant and bird species. We estimated forest cover for Costa Rica using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper satellite scenes acquired between 198 6 and 1991. In 1991, 29 percent (ca 14,000 km(2)) of the land cover of Cost a Rica was closed forest cover; of that forested area, ca 30 percent is pro tected by national conservation policies. Forest loss in a study area repre senting ca 50 percent of Costa Mca's territory during a five-year period (1 986-1991) was 2250 km(2), and the estimated deforestation rate was ca 450 k m(2)/yr, or ca 4.2 percent/yr, of remaining forest cover. Forests are almos t completely eliminated from the Tropical Moist Forest and Premontane Moist Forest life zones, and the level of fragmentation of remaining forests may be more advanced than previously thought.