Vol. 70 Núm. S1 (2022)

Environmental offsets for unavoidable or irreversible impacts of development projects are the last measure of the so-called mitigation hierarchy. This measure constitutes a technical-administrative management instrument whose purpose is to guarantee a net environmental gain or, at least, no net loss due to the impacts generated. Offset is achieved based on the principle of proportionality between the attributes and processes of the affected ecosystems and those used to compensate them. This precept is especially relevant in the event of impacts on protected wild areas, where the biodiversity intended to be protected may be affected.

The rules on how and when to carry out environmental compensation and the methodology used for it depend on the available environmental legislation and the vision of sustainability of the countries where it is implemented. Despite its extensive environmental legislation, the issue of environmental compensation has not been thoroughly debated in Costa Rica, and there is still confusion about how it should be implemented. This issue of the Journal of Tropical Biology aims to synthesize the state of knowledge on environmental compensation in Costa Rica, identify gaps in knowledge, and establish a conceptual line on compensation measures and how they are addressed in the current regulations of the country. Recent offset efforts in protected wilderness areas are examined in the light of case studies, contrasting different methodologies used to establish the offset. We hope this issue will interest researchers and decision-makers in environmental matters and constitute the starting point for the pending debate on compensation at the country level.