Growing Conditions and Flavor Characteristics of Guanacaste Coffee Region in Costa Rica

Guanacaste Conservation Area

The Guanacaste Conservation Area is an important natural habitat that sustains biological diversity, including the finest dry-forest habitat and biological communities stretching from Central America to northern Mexico, together with major endangered plants and animals. Its terrestrial and coastal environments are crucial to ecological processes such as the evolution, continuity and restoration of Pacific tropical dry forests, highland migration, other interacting biological and ecological activities, and the emergence and development of coral colonies and reefs.

Basic Information

Chinese Name: Guanacaste Conservation Area

English Name: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste

Inscription Year: 1999, 2004

Selection Criteria: N (ii) (iv)

Geographic Location: N 10°51' W 85°37'

Heritage Number: 928

The Guanacaste Conservation Area lies in northwestern Costa Rica. It reaches from a point 12 miles off the Pacific coast, runs inland across the lowlands along the Pacific shoreline, crosses three volcanoes, and then descends again to the lowlands, a total distance of about 105 kilometers. In 1999 the area was inscribed on the UNESCO World Natural Heritage list. The reserve covers 88,000 hectares of land and 43,000 hectares of sea, and those figures do not include a further 3,000 to 5,000 hectares later added to the protected area. Its highest point stands at 1,916 meters.

The conservation area contains a series of volcanic zones, the most famous being Rincon de la Vieja Volcano. This volcano has three craters and a lagoon; the most recent observed eruption was in the 1970s, but one crater still emits steam, and 32 rivers and 16 hot springs rise in the volcano's vicinity. The western terrain of the protected area is made up of carbonate rocks, while the coastal areas are primarily sedimentary formations, with saline lagoons commonly found along the coast. The climate is hot, with a long rainy season from May to October; annual precipitation reaches up to 1,528 millimeters and the average annual temperature is 28°C. The hottest months in the reserve are April and May each year.

The Guanacaste Mountain Range (Cordillera de Guanacaste) is a range in northwestern Costa Rica that forms part of the continental divide. It runs northwest to southeast for 113 kilometers (70 miles), and its highest point reaches 2,020 meters (6,627 feet). Arenal Volcano erupted in 1968, blanketing the whole area in volcanic ash, destroying pastures and killing 100,000 cattle. The range extends largely along the border between Guanacaste Province and Alajuela Province and is composed mainly of andesite. Four active volcanoes stand out, among them Miravalles Volcano at 2,020 meters, the highest peak in the range. Most of the slopes are covered in forest, while intensive agriculture, including coffee and sugarcane, is practiced near Lake Arenal.

Natural Geography

The conservation area lies in Central America at latitude 10°N and longitude 84°W. It borders the Caribbean Sea to the east and the North Pacific Ocean to the west, with 1,290 kilometers of coastline (212 kilometers on the Caribbean side and 1,016 kilometers on the Pacific side). To the north it borders Nicaragua (a 309-kilometer border) and to the southeast it borders Panama (a 639-kilometer border). The total area is 51,100 square kilometers, of which 50,660 square kilometers is territorial land and 440 square kilometers is territorial water, making the country slightly smaller than West Virginia in the United States and equivalent in size to Ireland. Costa Rica's terrain consists of coastal plains separated by rugged highlands. The country has declared an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles and territorial waters of 12 nautical miles. The climate is tropical and subtropical, with some neotropical regions. Its seasons completely overturn the traditional four-season scheme: there are only two. Winter runs from April to December with heavy rainfall, and the dry season, also called summer, runs from late December to April. In the capital, San Jose, the average annual temperature ranges from a low of 15°C to a high of 26°C; coastal areas are warmer, with the Caribbean region averaging 21°C at night and 30°C during the day.

The conservation area has well-developed strata from the Precambrian to the Mesozoic Triassic, but lacks Mesozoic Jurassic and Cretaceous strata as well as Cenozoic Tertiary strata. Stratigraphic distribution is roughly bounded by the Pidao River, with Paleozoic strata in the southeast and Mesozoic Triassic strata predominating in the northwest. Large areas of Silurian Maoxian Group metamorphic clastic rocks are exposed in the southeast, consisting of gray-green sericite phyllite and silver-gray sandy phyllite interbedded with thin-layer quartzite and thin, lenticular crystalline limestone. Near the Pidao River, Devonian and Carboniferous-Permian strata are distributed in strips: the former consists of unmetamorphosed gray and dark gray thin-layered limestone and argillaceous limestone interbedded with carbonaceous slate and sandstone; the latter consists of medium-thick layered limestone interbedded with phyllite and carbonaceous phyllite, and crystalline limestone interbedded with sandstone and conglomerate. Ordovician gray medium-thick layered feldspar quartz sandstone, quartz sandstone and sandy slate are sporadically exposed in the Sanjiangkou area. Large areas of Triassic strata are distributed in the northwest, made up of feldspar quartz sandstone, slate, carbonaceous phyllite, thin-layer limestone and fine siltstone, with Devonian strata exposed along the anticline axis, consisting of carbonaceous phyllite and sandy phyllite interbedded with quartzite and clastic limestone. Small amounts of Carboniferous-Permian strata are distributed in the Dengsheng area, mainly carbonaceous phyllite and crystalline limestone interbedded with sandstone. Quaternary loose deposits are mostly fluvial deposits, debris flow deposits and glacial moraines. Fluvial deposits are concentrated in the Pidao River valley and its tributary valleys. Large debris flow deposits are found at the mouths of debris flow gullies such as Huahongshugou, Longyangou and Daweijiagou. Paleoglacial valleys in the Xiangyangping area of the upper Pidao River and upper Zhenghe River contain paleoglacial deposits, while modern glacial valleys hold modern moraines. In addition, large areas of Chengjiang-Jinning period diorite and granodiorite are distributed in the northeastern part of the conservation area, and Yanshanian granite is exposed in the Siguniang Mountain area to the west.

Main Vegetation

The most important vegetation within the protected area is the dry-forest region covering roughly 60,000 hectares, where about twenty different biological zones grow in different soil environments and on various slopes. The main vegetation types include: (a) dominant mixed deciduous forest with some fig trees and mahogany; (b) evergreen forest along rivers and floodplains; (c) savanna dominated by Hyparrhenia rufa with sparsely distributed shrubland; (d) oak forest and savanna with Quercus species; and (e) mangrove forest. There are also some beach plants within the reserve. In the Rincon de la Vieja volcano area there are four distinct vegetation types: the first includes tropical Quercus trees, Sapotaceae trees and Cedrela plants growing in poor, severely eroded soils; the second includes various wetland plants; the third includes rainforest plants that vary with topography; and the fourth includes dwarf rainforest plants. This forest area is perennially covered by clouds, and because the area sees strong winds and poor soils, the trees are generally relatively small. Eight species of mangrove grow in the mangrove forests within the area, and these forests are well preserved.

Main Species

Records show that since 1973 the numbers of vertebrates, insects and aquatic animals within the conservation area have gradually increased. The reserve hosts many animal species of conservation significance, among them well-known mammals such as white-tailed deer, white-lipped peccaries, Baird's tapir, white-faced monkeys, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, anteaters, jaguars, ocelots and jaguarundis. There are more than 500 bird species in the reserve, the most common including macaws, American bobwhite quails, crested guans, blue-winged teals, herons, American storks, ibises and falcons. Small numbers of caimans and American crocodiles have also been found in estuaries within the protected area. During the sea turtle mating season (October to December each year), more than 250,000 sea turtles inhabit the beaches of the protected area, most of them olive ridley, green, leatherback and hawksbill turtles. The conservation area also hosts more than 12,000 species of nematode insects, more than 20,000 species of beetles and more than 13,000 species of bees.

Historical Significance

La Casona de Santa Rosa was built between 1580 and 1600 and was one of the earliest and largest cattle ranches in the region. In 1856, Santa Rosa was the site of the Battle of Santa Rosa. In 1966, Costa Rica celebrated its independence at Santa Rosa Ranch. The ranch initially focused on raising mules, used mainly for transporting goods; later its pastures were given over primarily to cattle, and beef became food for workers from Nicaragua and Guatemala who labored in local indigo factories. Santa Rosa National Park has become the most popular tourist attraction within the conservation area, drawing visitors with its historical monuments and the gathering of thousands of sea turtles on the beaches. In 1997, visitors to Santa Rosa National Park reached 64,000 people, half of them domestic tourists from Costa Rica.

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