Abstract

SALAS-GONZALEZ, Denis Mauricio. Changes in the area cultivated with oil palm in the canton of Osa, Puntarenas. 2014-2018 period. Rev. Geog. Amer. Central [online]. 2020, n.65, pp.93-120. ISSN 2215-2563.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15359/rgac.65-2.4.

Oil palm cultivation shows accelerated growth worldwide. According to official data, the Latin American region alone has seen 150.8% growth of area destined to oil palm cultivation, expanding from 443,000 hectares in 2001 to 1,111,000 hectares in 2014, of which 818,000 hectares were in the harvesting stage whereby contributing to approximately 6% of worldwide palm oil production (González, 2016). Oil palm plantations have impacted tropical landscapes by the decrease of natural vegetation, pastures or by replacing other crops. Oil palm cultivation increased in Costa Rica and, according to the trend of recent years, will continue to rise. In recent years, agricultural censuses and surveys have been carried out that show the general growth of cultivated land but omit to detail the geographical areas of expansion, nor depict the consequent impact on the natural dynamics of the cultivated area; both aspects constitute key information for regional and local territorial planning processes taking place in the country. Thus, the objectives of the present research were: to analyze the change in oil palm cultivated area in the canton of Osa, province of Puntarenas in the 2014-2018 period, and evaluate the expansion of oil palm cultivation in the districts of the canton. Accordingly, data from government institutions were analyzed and the oil palm plantations of the six districts of the Osa canton were identified and digitized.

Keywords : Land-use change; GIS; Oil palm; Agricultural frontier; Costa Rica’s Southern Zone.

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