Attempting restoration of wet tropical forests in Costa Rica

In southwestern Costa Pica, where the wet tropical forests have been seriously degraded to make way for pasture, many pasturelands are now idle or are coming up in scrub. Plantations of exotic species of trees in monocultures are the usual methods at obtaining forest cover. This report describes progress in an effort to show that restoration of wet native forest can be stimulated by planting mixed stands of native hardwoods. On a private reserve of 145 ha of abandoned pastureland, mixed stands have been established, involving up to 41 native species in the period since 1993. Sunloving species are growing as much as 3.1 m/year in height, and have exceeded 10 cm dbh in 5 years. Mixed stands of indigenous species are proposed as an alternative to monocultures, providing a possible source of income for small farmers, stabilizing the soil and stimulating the restoration of biodiversity. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.