Costa Rica is home to an estimated 500,000 plant and animal species - about 4% of the Earth's total.  Jaguars, ocelots and sloths inhabit its rainforests and rare turtles, dolphins, and sharks are found in the oceans to its east and west.

This past June, I traveled with an NRDC group to the Osa Peninsula - considered by many to be Costa Rica's biological crown jewel. In the Osa's rainforests we saw four species of monkeys, including the red-back squirrel monkeys - the smallest and rarest primates in Costa Rica - coatis, toucans, and countless scarlet macaws. 

This photo shows a close encounter between our Executive Director Peter Lehner and a macaw.

We also visited the Osa's Golfo Dulce where our boat was surrounded by dozens of of pantropical spotted dolphins and bottlenose dolphins.

The Costa Rica's biodiversity is astounding, yet fragile.  So for the first time ever, NRDC has designated an entire country as a "BioGem". Although Costa Rica has taken great steps to protect its natural areas, many threats still remain-its oceans are overfished and depleted and unsustainable development projects encroach on protected areas, such as the Las Baulas Marine National Park where endangered leatherback turtles lay their eggs.

 In 2002, NRDC successfully helped oppose plans by Harken Energy to explore and develop offshore oil near Costa Rica's southeastern region of Talamanca.  Today, NRDC is assisting Costa Rica with its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2021.  With the support of our members,  NRDC is also working with the CATIE to "Revive a Rainforest" by planting 30,000 trees on abandoned cattle pastures - read Peter Lehner' s blog about his experience planting the first seedlings.

Despite efforts to protect Costa Rica's biodiversity, climate change are altering the habitats so vital to the species living there.

• Rising temperatures increasingly threaten the survival of sea turtles, including the giant Leatherbacks. The temperature of the sand where turtles lay their eggs determines the sex of hatchlings. High temperatures result in more and more females, creating an imbalance that threatens sea turtles' ability to reproduce. As higher temperatures lead to rising ocean levels from melting polar icecaps, the beaches where turtles return year after year to lay there eggs will be irrevocably altered - further threatening the survival of these creatures.
• Amphibians are particularly susceptible to moisture variations, since they need the moist air to breathe. Changes in precipitation and longer dry spells can lead to disease outbreaks that are threatening to frogs and toads. Climate change may have already caused the extinction of some species like the endemic golden toad of the Monteverde Cloud Forest.
• Another inhabitant of the Monteverde Cloud Forest, the Quetzal, is already jeopardized as the changing climate forces toucans from lower altitudes further upslope into the Quetzal's habitat. Toucans prey on Quetzal nests, which is one factor for the decline in Quetzal populations.
• The World Bank reports that not only will changes in temperature and rainfall impact the diverse wildlife from the microscopic level to the top predators, but the increased frequency of extreme tropical cyclones will also prove a serious hazard to the habitats the local human communities depend on.

I've seen the exceptional wildlife of Costa Rica, and know how much we stand to lose if we don't stop climate change.  Join our call for strong climate action now.  There is no time to lose, so act on October 24th!