The majestic tree in the photo is a Spanish cedar, which produces an incredibly beautiful furniture wood very popular in Costa Rican among nationals and expatriates alike. It also makes beautiful doors. On the Finca Leola plantation, we currently grow teak and many native species of tropical hardwoods to help ensure a continuous supply of sustainable wood. See the links at the left side of this page for pictures of what a few of these woods look like. Click here to see photos we have taken of trees growing on our plantations.

Not only are we preserving rain forest by planting commercially viable tropical hardwood species, but we have reserved 40 percent of our land for encouraging the spread of natural growth forest. Imagine what this land looked like before farmers began to rely on cattle as a cash crop — it was entirely rainforest. (Click to see more rainforest tree photos.) Also, since we do not want to reproduce the contents of other sites, please review the Tree Links section for more in-depth treatment of some topics. If you are a woodcarver or cabinetmaker who wants to know more about the suitability of each tropical hardwood for specific types of woodworking projects, there are some good information sources there.

You may notice some similarities between the articles on the following pages and the material in the book Timber Trees of Costa Rica, which covers 55 tropical hardwood species. That's because one of the authors wrote the articles for our site. If you come to visit, you may buy the the book from the ITCR bookstore.

Árboles maderables de Costa Rica
Quírico Jímenez M. Freddy Rojas R., Víctor Rojas Ch., Lucía Rodríguez S.
ISBN 9968-702-70-6
U.S. $20 plus $9 S&H

In order to protect our forests, first we need to know them, and this work is a very concrete step in this direction. It is the result of a joint work of the Tecnological Institute of Costa Rica (ITCR) and the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio), dedicated as much to informing the Costa Rican as the foreigner about the wood resources of Costa Rica.

To order the book, send a check for $29 made out to INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE COSTA RICA to this address, preferably by certified mail. Include this note: "Este cheque es para comprar el libro titulado Árboles maderables de Costa Rica con ISBN 9968-702-70-6." CALL FIRST TO CHECK AVAILABILITY AT 506-2-550-2336.

EDITORIAL TECNOLOGICA DE COSTA RICA
APARTADO 159-7050
Costa Rica

Para proteger nuestros bosques primero hay que conocerlos, y esta obra es un paso muy concreto en esa dirección. Se trata de un trabajo conjunto del Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR) y el Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio), dedicado a informar tanto al costarricense como al extranjero, sobre los recursos maderables de Costa Rica.

El cheque debe ser contra un banco de Estados Unidos y confeccionarse a
nombre de INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE COSTA RICA.

Y debe enviarse a:

EDITORIAL TECNOLOGICA DE COSTA RICA
APARTADO 159-7050
Costa Rica

Preferiblemente por correo certificado.

The Wood Explorer website and CD provide critical woodworking knowledge for the forest profession, academic research, furniture designers, architectural engineers, commercial retailers, wholesalers, and woodworking craftsmen.