The Total Annual Value Of Costa Rica’s Natural Capital Is $ 14.5 Billion, 23% Of the Country’s GDP and the net present value of Costa Rica’s natural capital as a whole is $ 845 billion, according to the same study. To take a broader view, biodiversity is directly responsible for 11% of the world economy.
According to the executive director of the National System of Conservation Areas, Rafael Gutiérrez, the value of Costa Rica’s biodiversity is not only measured in terms of ecotourism. “We must mention the role of biodiversity in the generation of construction materials, new medicines, and all kinds of products that we use every day,” he explained.
A great vein of the economic wealth produced by the Costa Rican natural resource can also be seen in the more than 300 investigations a year that are authorized in Costa Rica “for the development of explorations and analyzes in various Protected Wild Areas in biology, ecology, monitoring , management, conservation and bioprospecting ”, reported Sinac.
Great biodiversity
It is important to remember that the last data tells us that Costa Rica maintains 4% of the planet’s biodiversity in a territory that barely represents 0.03% of the earth’s geoid, not only including the 51,100 km2 continental space, but also the 589,000 km2 of maritime space. Costa Rica is then one of the 20 countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world.
Gutiérrez commented that the constant investigation of alternatives for the sustainable use of natural resources has been reactive and in some cases proactive. “Costa Rica is internationally recognized as a country with policies and customs that favor development that does not significantly affect the environment,” he concluded.
Ecotourism
According to Andrea Meza, Minister of Environment and Energy, ecotourism is the main source of foreign exchange in the country. “More than a million people visit Costa Rica each year to observe biodiversity, generating an important contribution to the Gross Domestic Product. Certainly, ecotourism is just one of the many uses for biodiversity”, informed the Minister.
