Today, June 22, the world celebrates World Rainforest Day, a global moment dedicated to recognizing the importance of healthy, standing rainforests and the life they make possible. Around the world, rainforests protect biodiversity, help regulate climate, support water cycles, and create habitat for some of the planet’s most extraordinary species.
In Costa Rica, rainforests are part of the natural richness that makes the country so unique. Although Costa Rica is small in size, with only about 0.03% of the world’s landmass, it is home to nearly half a million known species, representing around 5% of the planet’s biodiversity. Much of that abundance is connected to the country’s wide range of ecosystems, from tropical dry forest and mangroves to cloud forests, wetlands, coastal habitats, and tropical rainforests.
Rainforests themselves are found in several forms across Costa Rica, shaped by elevation, rainfall, temperature, and geography. Lowland tropical rainforests can be found in places like Tortuguero, the Caribbean lowlands, and the Osa Peninsula, including Corcovado National Park. Tropical wet and very wet forests also appear across parts of the northern zone and along the Caribbean slope, while cloud forests, cooler and mistier forests found at higher elevations, are present in places like Monteverde, the Tilarán Mountains, and parts of the Talamanca range. Together, these ecosystems help create the incredible variety of climates and microclimates that can be experienced across Costa Rica, sometimes within just a few hours of travel.
Here in Guanacaste, the landscape is better known for tropical dry forest, one of the most defining ecosystems of the province and of our own region. Still, rainforest does exist in Guanacaste, especially in the higher, wetter areas of the Guanacaste mountain range. The Área de Conservación Guanacaste, for example, protects a continuous block of ecosystems that includes tropical dry forest, tropical rainforest, cloud forest, and marine-coastal habitats. From Town, one of the closest ways to experience a lusher rainforest environment is by traveling toward the Tenorio and Bijagua area, near Río Celeste, where the landscape shifts into greener, wetter forest shaped by the nearby volcanoes and northern highlands.
That is part of the magic of living in Costa Rica. Within a relatively short distance, the scenery can move from dry tropical forest and ocean views to misty mountains, lush rainforest, rivers, waterfalls, orchids, frogs, birds, mammals, and layers of green that feel almost endless. Each ecosystem has its own landscapes, species, and forms of life, all adding to the diversity that makes Costa Rica such a remarkable place to experience.
Today, we join the global celebration of rainforests by honoring the role they play in Costa Rica’s identity and natural abundance. They are part of what allows us to travel just a few kilometers and witness an immense diversity of flora and fauna, to experience different climates and landscapes, and to live surrounded by nature in so many of its forms. Rainforests are one of the many ecosystems that shape the country we love, adding to its beauty, richness, and extraordinary sense of life.