Biodiversity Conservation

Las Nubes is in a prime location for the creation of a corridor between the lowlands around Los Cusingos and the highlands of Chirripo National Park and La Amistad Biosphere Reserve.

This corridor would enhance the restoration of original habitat and promote more sustainable land use, thereby allowing for the dispersal of animal and plant species. It would also provide a protected route for animal species that spend portions of their lives in both highland and middle or lowland habitats (such as the Resplendent Quetzal and the Three-Wattled Bellbird).

Tropical forests house the greatest amount of the world’s biodiversity, yet they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Forest clearance destroys habitat for tropical species and for the many migratory birds that breed in North America and winter in the tropics. Populations of many of these species are currently declining. The loss of biodiversity is permanent – no amount of technology can reproduce an organism formed after millennia of evolution. Las Nubes is a treasure chest of biodiversity, including many species that science has yet to discover and study.

Standing forests are critical for the health of rivers and streams, retaining water in a cycle that, once broken, is not easily restored. Removal of tropical forests destroys the watershed, causing soil erosion, siltation, water contamination and loss of wildlife habitat. Forests also play a significant role in carbon fixation, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and thereby easing the increase in global temperature. Protecting Las Nubes will protect the river ecosystems and retain carbon in the living biomass of the trees.