Green Phoenix Restoring the Tropical Forests of Guanacaste, Costa Rica

by Allen, William

• ISBN13: 9780195108934
• ISBN10: 0195108930
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Can we prevent the destruction of the world's tropical forests? In the fire-scarred hills of Costa Rica, award-winning science writer William Allen found a remarkable answer: we can not only prevent their destruction--we can bring them back to their former glory. In Green Phoenix, Allen tells the gripping story of a large group of Costa Rican and American scientists and volunteers who set out to save the tropical forests in the northwestern section of the country. It was an area badly damaged by the fires of ranchers and small farmers; in many places afew strands of forest strung across a charred landscape. Despite the widely held belief that tropical forests, once lost, are lost forever, the team led by the dynamic Daniel Janzen from the University of Pennsylvania moved relentlessly ahead, taking a broad array of political, ecological, andsocial steps necessary for restoration. They began with 39 square miles and, by 2000, they had stitched together and revived some 463 square miles of land and another 290 of marine area. Today this region is known as the Guanacaste Conservation Area, a fabulously rich landscape of dry forest, cloudforest, and rain forest that gives life to some 235,000 species of plants and animals. It may be the greatest environmental success of our time, a prime example of how extensive devastation can be halted and reversed. This is an inspiring story, and in recounting it, Allen writes with vivid power. He creates lasting images of pristine beaches and dense forest and captures the heroics and skill of the scientific teams, especially the larger-than-life personality of the maverick ecologist Daniel Janzen. Itis a book everyone concerned about the environment will want to own.

Author Biography

William Allen is an independent journalist and Senior Fellow with the Institutes for Journalism and Natural Resources. His reporting on tropical forests has appeared in such publications as The Sciences, BioScience, and Harvard. He lives in Chesterfield, Missouri.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Prologue: The Contrafuego	xiii
Part I: In the Place of the Tree with Ears
The Nucleus	3	(12)
Canon del Tigre	15	(12)
The Ant and the Acacia	27	(21)
The Tree with Ears	48	(21)
The Fires of Guanacaste	69	(8)
The Living Dead	77	(10)
The Battle Plan	87	(18)
Part II: Advancing through the World of Wounds
A Tropical Christmas Catalogue	105	(15)
Earthquakes	120	(18)
Little Dances	138	(13)
The Clifftop and the Volcano	151	(9)
Home Runs	160	(15)
The Green Magician	175	(12)
Touch of the Money Spider	187	(14)
Part III: The Rising Phoenix
Area de Conservacion Guanacaste	201	(14)
A Time of War	215	(20)
The Vigilant	235	(15)
Life Jackets	250	(15)
Epilogue: Lessons from a Tropical Kitty Hawk	265	(22)
Bibliography	287	(12)
Index	299