Green Phoenix

by William Allen

"Can we prevent the destruction of the world's tropical forests? In the fire-scarred hills of Costa Rica, award-winning science writer William Allen found a remarkable answer: we can not only prevent their destruction - we can bring them back to their former glory." "In Green Phoenix, Allen tells the story of a large group of Costa Rican and American scientists and volunteers who set out to save the tropical forests in the northwestern section of the country. It was an area that had largely been cleared of its forest cover by ranchers and small farmers. Despite the widely held belief that tropical forests, once lost, are lost forever, the team, led by the dynamic Daniel Janzen from the University of Pennsylvania, moved relentlessly ahead, taking a broad array of political, ecological, and social steps necessary for restoration. They began with 39 square miles and, by 2000, they had stitched together and revived some 463 square miles of land and another 290 of marine area. Today this re