Introduction Land Use by Region: 1966- 2006 Pacific Northwest Region Pacific Southwest Region Caribbean Region Cordillera Region Central Valley & Central Pacific Region Deforestation, Forest Alteration, and Reforestation Deforestation and Forest Alteration Secondary forest Reforestation Concluding Comments Government Policy and Legislation Preservation, Conservation and Protection Protected Areas Politics and Government Policy Non-Government Environmental Groups Social and Economic Factors The Influence of Social and Cultural Factors The Influence of Economic Factors Land Capability versus Actual Land Use Land Use Change Prediction and Modeling Summary and concluding Comments References Cited Appendix I- Sources of Remotely Sensed Data Appendix II- Land Use Categories and Symbols Appendix III – Acronyms Appendix IV – Comparison of 1966 Images with 2005 Images

land use, land use change, Costa Rica, landsat, deforestation, conservation, LUC models, Land capability, ecotourism, national parks, banana plantation, pineapple planation, coffee plantation, forest industry, ranching

land use, land use change, Costa Rica, landsat, deforestation, conservation, LUC models, Land capability, ecotourism, national parks, banana plantation, pineapple planation, coffee plantation, forest industry, ranching

land use, land use change, Costa Rica, landsat, deforestation, conservation, LUC models, Land capability, ecotourism, national parks, banana plantation, pineapple planation, coffee plantation, forest industry, ranching