Since 2013, Costa Rica’s dry tropical forests have been under siege from loggers looking to cash in on skyrocketing demand for precious hardwoods, especially cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa), also known as tropical rosewood. The illegal logging of cocobolo and other precious hardwoods threatens Costa Rica’s famous but understaffed national parks as loggers look to protected areas as the last untapped source of valuable lumber for export.
Police arrested two men — including a U.S. citizen — in Costa Rica's Corcovado National Park last week during a ground mission to expel illegal hunters and gold miners from the renowned nature sanctuary.
