Environment

 
COSTA RICA AND THE ENVIRONMENT
 
Costa Rica’s incredible biodiversity results from the many habitats that are contained in this small country. Tropical rainforests, cloud forests, tropical dry forests, mangroves, montane grasslands, and shrublands each support unique plant and animal life. Leslie Holdridge provided an important classification of these life zones in 1971 based on the major variables of temperature, humidity, and elevation, identifying twelve major life zones and twelve transition zones.   
 
Costa Rica is one of the major biodiversity hotspots in the world, harboring a huge number of species, some of which can be found nowhere else on earth. Although it covers just .03% of the world’s landmass, it is estimated that about 6% of the world’s known species find a home there.

The Lowland Seasonal Forest is found in many parts of the central valley but mainly across the Northwest Pacific Coast.
 
 
 

Photo by Ivalin

As you approach 500-1500 meters in altitude you in most cases enter the Middle-Elevation Forest.

There are also other ecosystems in Costa Rica not included in the life zones categorization, such as the Coral Reefs or the Mangroves.

Photo by chuvipro

Above 1500 meters you get into the Highland and Cloud Forest Ecosystems of Costa Rica.  
 
Christiana Figueres Olsen
 
Befitting the country’s commitment, one of the most prominent leaders in the worldwide environmental movement has been Christiana Figueres Olsen. She is the daughter of national hero and former president José Figueres Ferrer. Trained as a social anthropologist, she has led a variety of national, international and multilateral policy negotiations. As Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010-2016, she was able to bring the world’s nations together to achieve the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on combatting climate change.  
 

Christiana Figueres

Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
 
 
 
Artist Marité Vidales’ Biography
 
Marité Vidales is a Costa Rican-born Washington, D.C.-based painter with a career that spans over 30 years. She received her BFA from the School of Fine Arts at the Universidad de Costa Rica in 1987 and completed Graphic Design studies at the Universidad de Centro America in 1983. She has exhibited widely in the United States, Germany, Perú, and Costa Rica. She maintains an active studio practice in the Shaw Neighborhood in Washington and teaches art at two non-profit senior centers in the city. She states: ‘Painting is my life, my occupation, and my greatest satisfaction. I use symbols to communicate the content of my work. Through colors and textures, I strive to create a harmonious and balanced image. My painting styles range from figuration to geometric abstraction. I develop thematic series of work based on my life experiences as a Costa Rican immigrant to the United States, as well as my travels and social concerns.”  For more information visit: www.maritevidales.com
 

Arenal Volcano

Marité Vidales
Costa Rica
1995
Acrylic on Canvas
On Loan from Marité Vidales