Cataloging Costa Rica's diversity: To make tropical biodiversity useful to society - and thus to save it - the first step is finding out what there is to lose

Costa Rica has begun a large national biodiversity survey. The main emphasis is to describe their estimated 300,000 insect species. This survey is being performed by the new Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad de Costa Rica (INBio). Even though a quarter of this nation's land is protected in national parks, nearly all of the land outside these parks has been cleared as demands for the growing population increase. With this in mind, the clock is running too fast for INBio to hesitate with this survey. The search for new drugs, crops, and natural pesticides has also pushed them to thoroughly examine their estimated 12,000 plant species. Since INBio opened its doors they have received a steady stream of international visitors. Costa Rica has once again proved to be one of the world's most important leaders in tropical conservation.