Paper short abstract:

By focusing on medicinal species used by the people of Boca Tapada, this paper highlights the importance of secondary forests culturally, ecologically and economically as a means to conserve these rich ecosystems in Costa Rica's Northern Zone.

Paper long abstract:

Conservation efforts are often taken from a singular angle, without recognizing the connections between local communities, biodiversity, ecological services, and economics. Yet, as the world continues to experience high tropical deforestation rates, community-based conservation offers perhaps the best and arguably the only effective strategy to protect secondary forests. Comprising over 50% of the tropical forests globally, secondary forests serve great ecological and cultural functions. In the Northern Zone of Costa Rica, many tree, understory, and liana species in the secondary forests provide medicinal value to the rural communities where western medical care is difficult to access. Recent research, however, has shown that secondary forests in Costa Rica are re-cleared before they have accumulated the previously lost biomass and biodiversity, many only given 20 years to recover. This paper highlights the importance of secondary forests to a community called Boca Tapada, in Costa Rica culturally, ecologically and economically. Some species with medicinal attributes are highlighted for their cultural and ecological roles in the forests, and economic aspects of conserving the forests instead of clearing them are evaluated.