Costa Rica: Bringing Natural Capital Values into the Mainstream

Costa Rica is unique in several ways. A key factor is the country’s geographic location as a narrow land bridge between the great landmasses of North and South America (fig. 13.1). Its rugged topography includes mountains that rise up to 3,800 meters above sea level, and its land bears two different seasonal regimes that contribute to its extremely varied habitats. Costa Rica’s biological diversity is outstanding in the Americas as well as in the tropical world as a whole. With a land area of only 51,000 square kilometers, it contains nearly 5 percent of all plant and animal species known to exist on the planet.