Daniel Janzen
| Daniel Janzen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 January 1939 Milwaukee, United States |
| 🏳️ Nationality |  United States Costa Rica (Honorary) |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Restoration of Tropical dry forest Janzen–Connell hypothesis Co-founder of INBio |
| 🏅 Awards | Kyoto Prize (1997) Blue Planet Prize (2014) BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2011) |
Daniel Hunt Janzen (born 1939) is an evolutionary ecologist and conservationist who divides his time between the University of Pennsylvania and the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica. He is widely considered one of the architects of Costa Rica's modern conservation system.
Together with his wife and research partner, **Winnie Hallwachs**, he helped establish the Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), a UNESCO World Heritage site that successfully restored over 160,000 hectares of tropical dry forest from cattle pasture—a feat considered one of the world's most successful ecological restorations.[1]
Career
Conservation in Costa Rica
Janzen has spent over 50 years conducting fieldwork in Costa Rica. He was a key advisor to President Óscar Arias Sánchez and helped design the **National Biodiversity Institute** (INBio), which pioneered the concept of "biodiversity prospecting."
- **Parataxonomy:** Janzen is credited with coining the term "parataxonomist." He developed a program to train local Costa Ricans—often former farmers or hunters—to become highly skilled biological collectors and inventory specialists.
BioAlfa
Currently, Janzen leads **BioAlfa**, a national project declared of "public interest" by the Costa Rican government. The project aims to DNA barcode every multicellular species in Costa Rica (an estimated 1 million species) to increase "bioliteracy."[2]
Selected Publications
- *Costa Rican Natural History* (1983) – The seminal textbook on the country's biodiversity.
- "The defoliation of *Paullinia clavigera* by the lizard *Basiliscus plumifrons*" (1971).
References
- ↑ Daniel Janzen: Technical Advisor. Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
- ↑ Bold project hopes to DNA barcode every species in Costa Rica. Mongabay. 2020-04-27.
