For several years now, I have been concerned at the alarming rate at which the young cara de tigre (Aspidosperma myristicifolium) in my neighborhood have been disappearing. Although these trees are not officially on the list of endangered or threatened species, I cannot imagine that, at the current rate of use in new constructions, these trees will not disappear from the Osa in the near future. With all the new construction, there has been a fairly steady stream of cara de tigre leaving my river valley for several years now. Almost every ex-pat, who purchases land here on the Peninsula and starts to build, is offered cara de tigre posts. Many of these posts/young trees are cut illegally. It is easy to do. A chainsaw is not needed and the posts are generally of a small enough dimension that they can be transported by hand at night. The profit is immense in relation to the work involved.

Of course newcomers to the peninsula are not aware of this situation and few are informed as to the unsuitability of using these posts on the first floor of a construction. The moisture from contact with cement on a ground floor is usually sufficient to cause cara de tigre to rot in just a few years. What a waste!

I would hope that folks embarking on a new construction would consider this when deciding what materials to use.

Have there been any studies conducted on the cara de tigres of the Peninsula de Osa? Are there still large populations of cara de tigre in other areas? If anyone has information supporting or contradicting my casual observations, I would love to hear from them. Liz Jones, Bosque del Rio Tigre, info@osaadventures.com