Climate

Costa Rica More Than Doubled Its Forests — From 21% To Nearly 60%

A tax on gasoline pays landowners to let the trees grow back. It worked.

By the NoBadNews desk · Published 2026-07-08 · Updated 2026-07-08

How did Costa Rica regrow its forests?

Costa Rica's forest cover crashed to about 21% of the country in 1987 — today it's back to nearly 60%, more than doubled, per FONAFIFO and the World Bank.

The mechanism is a fuel tax that funds payments to landowners for keeping and restoring forest (payments for ecosystem services). More than 18,000 families have been paid to protect about 1.3 million hectares, with roughly USD 524 million invested per the UNFCCC. Costa Rica is often cited as the first tropical country on earth to reverse its own deforestation.

Source: FONAFIFO / World Bank / UNFCCC · Image: AI illustration of real verified news (our method).

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