In Costa Rica’s Los Santos region, famous for producing nearly half the country’s coffee, farmers are reeling from heavy losses driven by wild weather. Climate change is hitting hard, with an estimated ₡11.5 billion ($22.1 million) in crop losses this season, according to the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (ICAFE). The region’s 13,000 coffee-growing families, mostly small and medium-scale producers, are struggling to stay afloat as harvests shrink and debts pile up.

Take one farmer’s story: she expected 450 bushels from her 2024–2025 crop but harvested only 350, losing 100 bushels. “That’s a huge hit to keeping the farm running,” she said. “We barely made a profit, and what we did earn went to fixing the cart we use to haul coffee.” Her experience is common, with many in Los Santos seeing harvests drop by about 20%. For the 35,500 people relying on coffee here, these losses sting, especially after back-to-back tough seasons. Some, like her, are ready to sell their farms if things don’t turn around soon.

Heavy rains are a big culprit, fueling diseases like coffee rust and anthracnose. Wet soils cause young fruit to drop early, and irregular flowering throws off the crop cycle. Farmers now obsess over weather forecasts, trying to adapt to unpredictable rains and rising temperatures that disrupt the delicate balance coffee plants need. A 2023 report noted Costa Rica’s rainfall has spiked since the 1960s, worsening fungal infections and eroding soil on steep hillsides. Los Santos, a highland hub, feels this shift acutely.

It’s not just the weather. Labor shortages, tied to irregular harvests and Nicaragua’s tight border policies, have left fields understaffed. In 2024, fewer than 50 Nicaraguan workers reached Costa Rica, forcing farmers to lean on local or Panamanian Ngäbe-Buglé workers. Low global coffee prices and a strong colón add to the pain, eating into profits. ICAFE reports the number of coffee producers nationwide has plummeted from 47,000 to 25,000 over a decade, yet the industry still supports over 100,000 jobs during the eight-month harvest.

Despite premium prices for Costa Rican coffee in high-value markets, many farmers are just breaking even, reinvesting slim earnings into the next cycle. ICAFE’s pushing solutions like disease-resistant hybrids and apps like CR CAFÉ to warn farmers about pests and weather. But with climate patterns growing erratic, farmers need more—shade trees, better irrigation, and national support—to save Los Santos’ coffee legacy.

Costa Rica’s Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland, a 33,000-hectare haven of mangroves and rivers, is under siege from an unlikely source: pineapple farms. A study by natural resource management specialist Soledad Castro found 16 chemical compounds, including the fungicide carbendazim and herbicides clomazone and diuron, in the wetland’s waters and sediments, some 80 kilometers downstream from plantations in Buenos Aires, Puntarenas. The findings, from her thesis “Plantations, Pesticides, and the State,” reveal that 71% of these pollutants come from pineapple farming, threatening the piangua mollusk and the communities who depend on it.

The Térraba-Sierpe delta, where the Térraba and Sierpe rivers meet, is a lifeline for the piangua (Anadara tuberculosa), a native mollusk harvested for generations. Castro used the piangua as a marker to gauge contamination’s impact, finding fewer mollusks in polluted areas like Boca Chica, though not mass die-offs. “The contaminants create conditions that just aren’t right for the species,” she said. Where pollution is lower, piangua populations thrive, highlighting the chemicals’ role in their decline.

Castro’s team sampled water and sediment along the rivers and delta, tying the pesticides to pineapple crops, though oil palm and rice farms also dot the area. The Térraba River, carrying reddish sediment from Buenos Aires’ ultisol soils, is the main culprit, spreading toxins far downstream. Community interviews backed this up. “In the 1980s, when pineapple farming took off, the piangua started vanishing,” Castro noted, quoting elders who recalled red mud clogging river mouths. “They said clearly: ‘The red mud shows up, and the piangua disappears.’”

The fallout hits hard for South Pacific communities, where piangua harvesting is a key livelihood. With few job options, losing this mollusk threatens their income and way of life. A report that came out this year echoed Castro’s findings, noting pesticides travel 70 kilometers to the delta, harming this Ramsar-protected wetland. Pineapple farms, using 20 kilograms of pesticides per hectare yearly, drive Costa Rica’s world-leading pesticide use, with runoff worsened by heavy rains, according to the FAO.

Castro’s work fills a critical gap, exposing how pineapple monoculture harms distant ecosystems. While Costa Rica’s green image draws tourists, its export-driven farms are leaving a toxic mark. Protecting the piangua and the wetland demands tougher regulations and restoration, before this ecological and cultural treasure slips away.

Costa Rica’s bare-necked umbrellabird, a striking black bird with a red throat pouch and crest, is in trouble. A new study in Nature Ecology & Evolution warns it’s among 500 bird species worldwide that could vanish within a century, driven by human activities like deforestation and urban sprawl. Found only in Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, Talamanca Mountain Range, and Monteverde, this endemic species—along with the mangrove hummingbird—faces a grim future unless bold action is taken.

The umbrellabird, with an estimated 7,000 breeding adults left, clings to shrinking forests. Its limited range makes it especially fragile, as cleared land and fragmented habitats chip away at its home. The mangrove hummingbird, buzzing through North Pacific mangroves, isn’t faring much better. Both species suffer from rapid development, and some face hunting during nesting seasons, further threatening their survival. “Stopping deforestation or patching up habitats isn’t enough anymore,” said Dr. Claudia Fernández, a biologist specializing in ecology. “These birds need full-scale ecosystem restoration, and we need it now.”

The Nature study paints a stark picture: biodiversity is collapsing at a record pace, disrupting ecosystems that provide clean water, air, and food. Costa Rica, home to 936 bird species—among the highest diversity per square kilometer globally—feels the strain acutely. The Ornithological Association’s 2024–2025 bird list showcases this richness, with 80 endemics like the umbrellabird and hummingbird, but warns of growing risks. If countries step up protections and curb human impacts, the study says, half these extinctions could be prevented.

There are also local concerns, with birders and conservationists urging stronger policies. A push to restore mangroves in the Gulf of Nicoya shows promise, but deforestation in the Caribbean, where umbrellabirds roam, continues. The study calls for aggressive conservation, like reforesting degraded lands and shielding nesting sites from hunters. Costa Rica’s green reputation hinges on saving these birds, which draw tourists and anchor ecosystems.

Fernández’s warning is a wake-up call. The umbrellabird’s flashy crest and the hummingbird’s iridescent buzz are more than natural treasures—they’re indicators of a fragile balance. Without urgent, large-scale efforts, Costa Rica risks losing these species and the ecosystems they support. The clock is ticking, but there’s still time to act.