Natural resources/productive activities in the SJRB

Both Costa Rica and Nicaragua have seen expansion of agriculture and ranching in their respective portions of the SJRB. Natural lowland forests, generally flat terrain and non-floodable lands, are now used for agriculture and, except for the most significant biological reserves, the remaining natural forests have been high-graded, lost to shifting agriculture, or to clearing for livestock production. Estimates are that only 8.5% of the Nicaraguan sector and 8.0% of the Costa Rican sector remains in either primary or secondary forests. As a product of this loss of forests, a large number of hectares of land have been exposed to high-intensity tropical rains and the consequent loss of soil.

Agriculture covers 60% of the territory. In Nicaragua, the basin produces 26% of the national bean crop, almost 21 % of the sorghum, and slightly more than 16% of the corn and sugar cane. In the Costa Rican sector, it produces 54% of the nation’s beans, 11% of its sugar cane, 6% of the corn and banana production, and 90% of tubers and root production. The agricultural frontier in Nicaraguan is still expanding—often on land of low productive capacity and on lands within protected areas (the agricultural frontier is expanding eastward to threaten the Indio-Maíz Biological Reserve). In Costa Rica, the productive change from forest to agriculture has already occurred and pressure is also directed at the colonization of protected areas.

The causes of this process are found in a combination of factors linked to subsistence of agriculture, clearing forests for rangeland, inefficient use of natural resources, and newly arrived migrants looking for land to settle. Lumber extraction has often been an additional factor, providing road access and people to the colonization process. Production technologies, which are in many cases inappropriate, and the intensive use of agrochemicals on certain crops, have negatively affected water quality.

Agriculture in the SJRB has clear asymmetries with respect to the number of producers and available land areas. Commercial producers represent 11% of the total number of farms yet they occupy 55% of the agricultural land whilst small and subsistence producers represent 89% of the farms on but 45% of the total agricultural area.

Ranching plays a fundamental role in both sectors of the basin where nearly 20% of the national herd for each country is found. The herds are different, however, in that those in Nicaragua are generally dual purpose, meat and milk, while in Costa Rica the production is specialized. Genetic improvement of the herds is a priority, as are sanitation and range and pasture management.

Associated industrial activities are located in the basin where 70 sawmills operate (10 in Nicaragua and 60 in Costa Rica). On the Costa Rican side, four banana companies are located in Pococí; one citrus processing plant in Los Chiles; three sugar mills and milk cooperatives in Quesada City and San Carlos; and numerous coffee processing plants scattered in the coffee growing areas. On the Nicaraguan sector, agroindustrial activities are the sugar mills in the Department of Rivas, one tomato processor in the municipality of Nandaime, one palm oil extraction plant in El Castillo, and several coffee processing plants.