The Economic Importance of Extending Habitat Protection Beyond Park Boundaries: A Case Study from Costa Rica

world’s most important centers of biological diversity; and Monteverde is one of the most diverse and important environments in the country. A key to this diversity is that the Monteverde zone encompasses seven different life zones (Holdridge 1967) found on both the Atlantic and Pacific slopes of the continental divide. Species turnover is high (Harvey et al. 2000) because each life zone has a fairly distinct composition of flora and fauna. It is common knowledge that simply delineating and protecting a conservation area, be it a national park, wildlife refuge, or sanctuary, is normally not enough to ensure the survival of the numerous species of flora and fauna that utilize the habitat. Such is the case in Monteverde, an area renowned for its contributions to the study of tropical ecology. Even in Monteverde, conservation efforts have not succeeded in providing enough critical protection for many organisms. While the Atlantic slope habitats are well protected, with over 26,000 ha (or >90% of the total conserved area in Monteverde), the Pacific side has little protection (Powell and Bjork 1995). Many biologists in the region realize that the conservation