In the forest, what a visitor should hear is the constant drip of moisture falling from the trees. Instead, it is the sound of dead branches snapping underfoot that breaks the silence on the dry trails.
The high-altitude forest is still clinging to life, and it delights walkers with an infinite variety of greens under an uncomfortably bright sun: the fog which reigned supreme here only a short time ago dissipates as the temperature rises, explained 24-year-old forest guide Andrey Castrillo.
"The forest should be cool," he said. "You should hear the drops falling all over the forest, but that only happens during the wettest and windiest days of the rainy season."
"Here there was no sun... We had about 30 days of sunshine a year. Now we have more than 130," he said.
At 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) above sea level and 140 kilometers (86 miles) northwest of the capital San Jose, the private nature reserve extends over 14,200 hectares (35,000 acres) and is home to a hundred species of mammals, 440 bird species and 1,200 types of amphibians.
- 'Walking in the clouds' -
This exceptional type of altitude forest represents only one percent of the world's tropical and subtropical areas.
"Near-ground cloud cover forms when the humidity saturation is above 90 percent with temperatures between 14 and 18 degrees Celsius (57 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit)," researcher Ana Maria Duran, of the University of Costa Rica, told AFP.
The researcher said she had been coming here regularly for more than twenty years.
Normally, the "almost permanent" fog gives the impression of "practically walking in the middle of the clouds," with visibility down to barely a meter (three feet).
As she spoke, she stared into the forest where the temperature had risen to more than 25 degrees Celsius, under a blue sky where only a few clouds crowned the peaks.
"Coming to Monteverde to find such dry conditions and not being in the clouds like it was 20 years ago when I started coming is obviously very sad," said Duran.
Rising temperatures mean lower humidity and more sun. The mosses have dried on the tree trunks, the rivers are no more than streams, and the amphibians here have been the first victims of climate change.
"The decline of amphibians in cloud forests may serve as a wake-up call," warned biologist Andrea Vincent, who teaches at the University of Costa Rica.
Already, the species Incilius periglenes, known as the golden frog, has been considered extinct since 2019 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
"A cloudless cloud forest, it will disappear, it has to," said Vincent, warning that "there will be a lot of extinctions" of various species.
But this "dispiriting scenario" can still be avoided, she said.
"Ecosystems are resilient. If we make efforts to stop climate change it is possible that cloud forests will recover... not during our lifetime but perhaps for the next generations".
Brazil judge suspends work on Rio's Sugarloaf zip line
Rio De Janeiro (AFP) June 2, 2023 -
A Brazilian judge has ordered a suspension in the construction of a zip line on Rio de Janeiro's iconic Sugarloaf Mountain, alleging damage to the stone at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
With its inauguration scheduled for the second half of this year, the new tourist attraction promises a "unique" and "sustainable" experience, but has been met with stiff resistance from neighbors and environmental activists.
"Large perforations were made in Sugarloaf -yes, perforations!- without it being known with certainty how much damage this could cause" to the stone, wrote federal judge Paulo Andre Bonfadini in his preliminary ruling, signed on Thursday.
The judge noted that the work had begun "before there was an authorization from Iphan," the Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphan).
"It is enough to see that the work began in September 2022 and the formal authorization only arrived in January 2023," Bonfadini said.
In response to a request from the prosecutor's office, the judge ordered the "immediate suspension" of the Iphan authorizations for the work, and that the company refrain from "promoting cutting or drilling in the rocks" or any modification that implies "demolition or construction of new elements."
With its mountain peak and spectacular views over the sea and the city, Sugarloaf was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012 along with other Rio landmarks such as the statue of Christ the Redeemer on the Corcovado mountain. Some 1.6 million people visit Sugarloaf every year.
The company placed in charge of the site more than a century ago, Parque Bondinho Pao de Acucar, said in a statement sent to AFP Friday that it still had no access to the court decision, but reiterated the "absolute legality of the works."
The "licensing process followed all the technical requirements requested by Iphan and the Municipal Secretary of Environment and Climate," among other public bodies, the group said.
The attraction is designed for visitors to descend four zip lines that will connect Sugarloaf -- which is 396 meters (1300 feet) above sea level, and its neighbor, Urca hill, which is 220 meters high.
Riders would travel 755 meters with a maximum speed of 100 kilometers (60 miles) per hour.
In addition to the drilling, its critics fear the possible impact on local flora and fauna which has already been affected, they say, by overflights of tourist helicopters and night parties.
The group "Sugarloaf without a Zipline" movement has launched an online petition to prevent the work, which has so far gathered more than 23,000 signatures.
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