It is said that about two-thirds of the species of the planet live in tropical rainforests and that a million more await their discovery inside the rainforests. Worldwide a lot of efforts are been made to protect the rainforest, not only because of the value of preserving the planet’s species and not letting them get extinct but also for the medicinal value the plant species have or could have. Costa Rica rainforests are no different in this sense. Currently the National Institute of Biodiversity in Costa Rica (InBio) has hired international pharmaceutical companies to fund and assist them in  cataloging species of flora from the Costa Rica rainforests. Their objective is to retrieve as much information of plant species from the plethoric rainforests of Costa Rica as possible and learn about the medicinal value each plant might have. If you are thinking that the medicinal values of plants are mild, think again, many medicines have been extracted from forest trees, shrubs, and flowers from the rainforests. These medicines from the rainforests range from antibiotics, anesthetics, contraceptives, medicines for heart diseases, malaria, among many others. Rainforests also play an important key in moderating the global climatic patterns, thus the destruction of the rainforests results in contributing to the global warming.

In the past the lush rainforests of Costa Rica were destroyed to make way to pasture lands and to extract timber. After 1960, the government of Costa Rica realized the terrible damage of neglecting the rainforests will produce on the long term, and urgently established a system of National Parks. Currently the invaluable rainforests of Costa Rica are an economically productive resource that attracts many tourists every year, and leave more income to the country than pasturing or timber ever did. Protecting the unique rainforests of Costa Rica saves the species that are found inside of them, and overall improves the economy of the country and of its inhabitants. Visiting the exuberant rainforests of Costa Rica not only is a reward to the visitor searching for a natural destination, but also makes them a little more conscious about the importance of taking care of the rainforests and not contaminating the planet.

The plethoric Costa Rica rainforest contains 5% of the world’s biodiversity and it only represents a 0.1% of land mass in the world. Costa Rica rainforest hold well over 10000 species of vascular plants and regularly more species are found and added. 1300 of these species come from the family of the orchids. The most famous of these flowers is the purple orchid (Cattleya skinneri), which is Costa Rica’s national flower and is found in great numbers in the Rincon de la Vieja National Park. 2000 tree species have been identified in the Costa Rica rainforest. Rainforests of Costa Rica are part of a biodiversity bridge that unites Central America with South America; this strategic position probably accounts for the list of 850 bird species recorded in this country. Costa Rica rainforests are also home to approximately 260 mammal species, 65000 classified insect species (many thousands remain unclassified), 180 amphibian species, 235 reptile species (more than half are snakes, 18 are poisonous), and 835 fish species; according to the registers of the InBio from a few years ago.

Costa Rica rainforests are also home to many endangered species, among these 16 bird species, 13 mammal species, eight reptile species, two amphibians, and dozens of plants according to InBio records. Costa Rica laws have a longer list of endangered species which are protected from hunting and trafficking, these are 87 bird species, 36 amphibian species, 27 mammal species, 16 reptile species, all the orchid plants, cacti, tree ferns, and some other plants. The best place to spot wildlife is inside the National Parks that protect Costa Rica rainforests. Mountain lodges and areas that are ecofriendly that surround almost any rainforest of Costa Rica might also be a good place to spot wildlife. Locals are usually good guides as they know the area and the wildlife, they know the behavior patterns of the different local species and know were each of them likes to roam. // Seeing the wildlife takes patience and quietness. If you want to go to the rainforest and see as much as you can, try to go with the minimum amount of people in a group, look around and focus on the small details around you: You will be surprised how the wildlife starts appearing before your eyes, especially during the early morning and late afternoon.//