Ecosystems of Central America and the Caribbean

Central America and the Caribbean are both so-called biodiversity hot spots—areas with extremely high biodiversity that is under threat from human activities such as tourism, deforestation, and unsustainable land use. Both regions experience tensions between environmental conservation and traditional modes of economic development.

Central America is located on the isthmus between North America and South America and encompasses the nations of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Mexico is often considered to be part of Central America as well, and it and the other Central American nations are bordered by the Caribbean Sea. Central America contains diverse terrain, ranging from lowlands to volcanic highlands, with numerous forest types, mangrove swamps, savannas, fertile highlands, and mountain ranges.

The Caribbean region includes the Caribbean Sea and the islands of the West Indies, which are divided into the Greater Antilles (which contains most of the landmass of the West Indies), the Lesser Antilles, and the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands, the last of which are located in the Atlantic Ocean. Central America and the Caribbean are often treated as a geographical region and face many similar challenges. There are twenty-seven territories in the Caribbean, which encompass more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays, many in volcanic island arcs.

High poverty rates throughout the region have created a strong economic impetus toward development, expansion, and promotion of tourism, all of which have experienced numerous negative environmental impacts. Earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcanism also affect the region. Efforts to promote ecotourism and sustainable development, however, may help balance the economic needs of the region’s growing population with the need for environmental protection in the long term.

Biodiversity

Both Central America and the Caribbean are located in Nearctic and Neotropical terrestrial eco zones, which means they contain plant and animal groups found in both North and South America. Central America has been estimated by the Nature Conservancy to be home to 7 percent of the world’s biodiversity in only 0.5 percent of the world’s land area. The area known as the Mesoamerican biodiversity hot spot is the third-largest biodiversity hot spot in the world, with more than 8,000 endemic species of plants and animals, excluding insects. The area also contains crucial habitat for Neotropical migratory birds.

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, extending along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, is the second-largest barrier reef in the world, after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It provides important habitat for four endangered or protected species of sea turtle—green sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, hawksbill turtle, and leatherback turtle—and manatees. The Bosawás Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua is the second-largest rain forest in the Western Hemisphere at approximately 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles), after the Brazilian Amazon.

Because of its many islands, the Caribbean is home to at least thirteen thousand endemic plant and animal species (excluding insects)—species that are native and found nowhere else. About half of the species are endemic to single islands. Cuba, in particular, with about 48 percent of the landmass in the Caribbean, is extremely biodiverse and contains thousands of endemic species. There are also numerous endemic marine organisms throughout the Caribbean, many with very limited ranges. The number of species of insects and spiders endemic to Central America and the Caribbean cannot be reliably estimated, but scientists place them at least in the thousands.

Terrestrial Environmental Issues

Numerous land threats to Central America and the Caribbean environment and biodiversity include the effects of deforestation, slash-and-burn agriculture, mining, urban development and pollution, habitat encroachment, and tourism. The Caribbean and Central America have some of the highest deforestation rates in the world. Only about 10 percent of the Caribbean’s original vegetation remains; Cuba’s forests (about 15 percent of the original forest extent) are the largest remaining forests in the Caribbean. Approximately 13 percent of the land area in the Caribbean is protected, but much of this protected area has already experienced severe environmental impacts. The primary motivation behind deforestation in most of the Caribbean has been land clearance for sugarcane plantations, and sugarcane is still a primary export crop for many Caribbean countries. Forests are also cleared for cacao, coffee, and tobacco plantations.

Research conducted in the 2020s showed that while Cuba had gained in total forest cover through regrowth and plantation efforts, much of this is secondary forest rather than original, mature stands. Moreover, some gains have been lost through subsequent deforestation or degradation, which raised questions about the permanence and ecological equivalence of such reforested areas.

Between 1980 and 1990, annual deforestation averaged 1.4 percent in Mesoamerica, with El Salvador being affected the most. Deforestation in this area is motivated by timber, mineral, and oil extraction, as well as by subsistence agriculture. Because soils in this region quickly lose nutrients, subsistence farmers must constantly clear new land, often by slashing and burning. Slash-and-burn agriculture changes habitats and can cause soil erosion and watershed contamination when practiced on a large scale.

Expanding populations have led to rapid urban development, with negative effects on air and watershed quality, as well as depletion of water supplies. Mexico City, for example, has one of the worst levels of air pollution in the world, largely as a result of vehicle exhaust. Although aggressive pollution-control measures have resulted in some improvements, air pollution remains a serious issue.

Tourism has both positive and negative effects on the Caribbean and Central America. It brings in money that not only supports the population but also, in some cases, is used for conservation efforts that would not otherwise be possible. Tourism also results in increased waste production and pollution of air and water. Tourist resorts and the infrastructures that support them alter landscapes and often bring in nonnative species.

Marine Environmental Issues

The problems of the marine environment in the region are not disconnected from the terrestrial; problems on land affect the oceans and vice versa. For example, urban development often leads to water contamination in the marine environment from sewage and other by-products of urban areas. Deposits of soil that have eroded from the land because of deforestation can bury and kill coral reefs. Marine oil spills can contaminate beaches and rivers and kill coastal mangrove swamps, which provide habitat for fish as well as storm protection.

Coral reef loss is also a significant problem in the Caribbean. By the early 2000s, it was estimated that 30 percent of reefs in the Caribbean were threatened. By the 2020s, an estimated 75 percent of reefs were at risk, including 90 percent in the insular Caribbean from Jamaica to the Lesser Antilles. The Caribbean reefs had lost 60 percent of their coral cover by 2024. This made them vulnerable to harm from overfishing, pollution, warmer waters, and stronger storms. These threats often interact; for example, a reef already compromised by pollution is more susceptible to storm damage or disease.

One major threat to the Caribbean coral reefs is coral bleaching, a stress response in which the coral expels its symbiotic zooxanthellae, which can eventually result in death. Major causes of coral bleaching include increased sediment runoff and sudden temperature increases. A worldwide coral bleaching event was correlated with an El Niño climate pattern.

In the Caribbean, tourism may pose an even greater threat to the marine environment than to the terrestrial environment. Pollution and trash from cruise ships, including fuel, treated and untreated sewage, and plastic, are frequently discharged into international waters. As the Caribbean has one of the highest densities of cruise ships in the world, this is a serious threat to marine habitats, particularly coral reefs—many of which are already damaged by coral bleaching, tropical storms, and soil erosion. Overfishing, as well as the hunting of marine mammals, turtles, and seabirds, is also a threat to marine wildlife populations in the Caribbean and Central America.

Conservation and Sustainable Development

As populations in the Caribbean and Central America increase, it becomes more important to find sustainable development strategies that will improve the standard of living for the human population while protecting the environment. Strategies that have been employed thus far include both the traditional conservation of areas and species by local governments and conservation efforts by international organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Some examples of the latter include the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO), the Belizean stretch of the Mesoamerican Reef (Nature Conservancy), and conservation work in Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert (WWF).

Other efforts have focused on pollution reduction, such as the development of renewable energy resources. For example, the Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Programme is a joint effort of thirteen Caribbean territories to remove barriers to the development of renewable energy resources. By the mid-2020s, Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) regions were taking steps to curb pollution and clean the air.

Many countries in this region are exploring further development of sustainable ecotourism as an alternative to more environmentally destructive forms of economic development. However, not all tourism labeled as ecotourism is low impact, responsible, or sustainable, and some negatively affect local people. The development of economically and environmentally positive ecotourism opportunities under local control is a priority for many Caribbean and Central American environmental groups.

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