Costa Rica natural resource policy inventory : USAID/ROCAP RENARM [regional environmental and natural resource management] project

This report presents the results of the Costa Rica inventory. Volume I is a summary of the results and conclusions of the Costa Rica Natural Resource Policy Inventory. Volume II is organized into seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides the scope and orientation of the inventory by dividing the analysis into five natural resource themes: sustainable agriculture, management of water resources, production from forests, management of wildlands, and management of coastal and marine resources and setting the criteria for selecting policies analyzed in the inventory. Costa Rica"s soils, water, forest, and coastal resources are also described. Chapter 2 analyzes how Costa Rica"s natural resource policy framework has been and is shaped by macro policies and by human ecological, institutional, and cultural factors. Chapters 3 through 7 correspond to the five natural resource themes described in Chapter 1. In each chapter, two to four policy issues are identified. An issue is a problem in natural resources management that could be ameliorated by policy change. For each issue, the inventory presents the issue description, policy framework, institutional framework, issue analysis of what does and does not work, policy gaps, alternatives, and a research agenda. In total, the inventory identified 15 policy issues and analyzed over 100 policies. Volume III contains three technical appendices. Appendix A presents 17 policy inventory tables that support the policy discussions of Chapters 3 through 7. Over 40 public policies and laws are grouped into these 17 major policy categories. Each table describes the major policies framing a policy category, its corresponding institutions, and evaluates its impact on the environment and natural resources and the economy. Appendix B briefly describes the characteristics and objectives of over 20 public sector institutions involved in Costa Rica"s natural resource policy issues. Appendix C lists over 100 international, national, regional and local non-governmental organizations active with natural resource agendas in Costa Rica. (Author abstract)