Public reading

Telire, Talamanca, Limón Province

1,429 ha · 9.471, -83.479 · Costa Rica

5 km

Shaded relief · AWS Terrain Tiles

The verdict

65/ 100 · Land ScoreRestore

Good bones. The rest is work.

Telire, Talamanca, Limón Province

ReclaimCultivateRestoreAnchor

75th percentile for like land · Corridor tier · 78 conservation priority

Four of five readings

Water77

Soil—

Ecology50

Climate65

Pressure86

weakest · Ecologynot read · Soil

All five read on one axis — up is good. Pressure scores calm: a high number is little human pressure on this land. The unread pillars had their weight redistributed across the rest — reweighted, never guessed.

Standing

75thpercentile

Neotropic · against 81 readings · 74th of all 85

Coverage

80%

weight read

11 of 16 layers answered

Nearly complete — gaps reweighted, not guessed.

Silent: Sentinel-2, the radar, the soil survey +2.

Where the capital goes

78/ 100 priority

Corridorhospitality fit 65

Best-fit model

Upper-watershed research station

67 / 100

Fit from published rules over the indicators.

The land in numbers

Area

1,429ha

Elevation

3,482m

2,846–3,778 m

Slope

10.3°

Forest cover

29%

Canopy height

not read

Rainfall

3,322mm/yr

+15% over 20 yr

Warming to 2050

+1.8°C

rain -7%

Soil carbon

not read

Nearest road

not read

Species records

4,320GBIF

Headline figures only. Every card below carries the full reading, its source and its date; a figure the engine did not read is named, never filled in.

This place

1,429 hectares at Telire of strongly rising land around 3,482 m. The ground reads 29% under canopy. Water shapes it — 3,322 mm of rain a year, 46 traced watercourses.

Its vocationreconnect

Guard the headwaters; study what they hold. At 3,482 m with 29% tree cover, this reads as intact montane headwater forest — high-value habitat whose biodiversity and water function justify guarding it and studying what it holds.

3,482 m elevation29% forest10.3° slope3,322 mm rain/yrCorridor tier — restoration compounds here

Its trajectoryholding— the canopy record shows no meaningful loss in a generation.

This is an outsider's reading, assembled from instruments and public records. It is where understanding begins, not where it ends — the land, its neighbours, and the people who know it hold the rest.

The threads

Where the readings connect. Each thread follows one chain of cause and consequence across the instruments — and ends in what it means for what you do.

The forest here has held for a generation.

recordedThis canopy has held: 34% cover in 2000, 0.1% lost since, none of it recent.

What to doThe work here is keeping, not fixing — and the first walk should confirm the stand is as intact up close as it reads from orbit.

Lands on: the land's living value · confidence high

More water is arriving — and arriving harder.

observedThe twenty-year rain record moved +15.2% — this is a place whose water is changing, not holding.
observedOn 10.3° average slope, pulsed rain becomes runoff energy — erosion and flash flow, not just supply.
derivedNote the disagreement: the observed archive moved +15.2%, while the 2050 model says -7%. Neither cancels the other — the archive is what happened, the model is one projection. Design for the envelope: drainage for the wet record, storage for the dry projection.

What to doKeep or restore cover on the slopes and size drainage for pulses, not averages; verify culverts and crossings in the wet season.

Lands on: this land and the people downstream · confidence medium

Abundant water is also a legal shape on this land.

observed46 watercourses are traced on and around this parcel.
officialCosta Rica's Ley Forestal 7575 (art. 33) protects riparian strips — roughly 10–15 m along rivers in rural land, up to 50 m on steep banks and around springs.
derivedMultiply the strips by the watercourses and a material share of the parcel is likely untouchable by law — which is a constraint for building and a gift for conservation.

What to doMap the statutory buffer zones before pricing or siting anything — the buildable area is smaller than the deed.

Lands on: how much of the land is actually usable · confidence medium

For its kind of land, its calm (low pressure) stands out.

derivedAgainst 81 readings of like land (Neotropic), this parcel's calm (low pressure) ranks in the top 15%.
derivedAn unusual strength is the thing to protect first — it is what its peers do not have.

What to doWhatever plan is made, it should be one that cannot spend this calm (low pressure) down.

Lands on: what this land is, relative to its kind · confidence medium

Height is this land's climate insurance.

observedAt 3,482 m, today's mean sits at 7.6°C.
estimatedThe +1.8°C projected by 2050 arrives on that cool baseline — roughly 0 hot days a year here while lowland sites cross heat thresholds this parcel never reaches.
derivedAs the lowlands warm, land that stays temperate does double work: livable for people, refuge for species moving uphill.

What to doTreat elevation as an appreciating part of the asset — and design for the species arriving from below, not only the ones here now.

Lands on: the decades ahead · confidence medium

Reading the place

This 1,429-hectare parcel near Telire, Talamanca, Limón Province is land with sound foundations and clear regenerative upside, scoring 65 out of 100. The reading that most shapes the work here is that the terrain is steep, which constrains construction and raises erosion risk. Its main strength is that a watercourse runs through the parcel. The first move: design roads and structures to the contour, and get a geotechnical and erosion assessment before any earthworks.

Riskhigh confidence

The terrain is steep, which constrains construction and raises erosion risk.

Steep slopes increase building and road costs, limit machinery access, and make the land more prone to erosion and landslides.

Mean slope 10°, with 932 m of elevation change across the parcel.

Riskmedium confidence

This area is highly exposed to projected climate change by 2050.

Large shifts in temperature and rainfall can change what the land can support, so any plan should be built around the projected conditions, not current ones.

Projected change by 2050: +1.8 °C mean temperature, -7.3% rainfall. Exposure rated High.

Opportunityhigh confidence

A watercourse runs through the parcel.

On-site water supports irrigation, livestock, and habitat and can lower water-supply costs — though it may carry buffer or setback rules worth checking.

A mapped river or stream crosses the parcel (Río Skú).

Waterhigh confidence

Rainfall is very high.

Abundant water supports productive growth but raises the risk of flooding, waterlogging, and nutrient leaching, so drainage and slope matter. Rainfall has also been rising, which can bring more intense wet seasons; plan drainage accordingly.

3,322 mm of rain per year. A watercourse crosses the parcel. Up about 15% over 20 years.

Biodiversityhigh confidence

The area has a rich record of documented wildlife.

High biodiversity adds conservation value, may bring species-protection rules, and can support eco-tourism or habitat-credit programs.

4,320 biodiversity records nearby, including Junco vulcani and Turdus nigrescens (GBIF).

Soillow confidence

No satellite soil data is available for this parcel.

Soil quality cannot be assessed remotely here, so a ground survey is needed before any agricultural or restoration decision.

The SoilGrids survey returned no data for this location.

Accessmedium confidence

Official Costa Rican record places this in Telire, Talamanca, Limón.

National cadastral and administrative data ground the parcel in the legal record — the basis for title, permitting, and tax diligence.

Jurisdiction: Telire, Talamanca, Limón. Source: SNIT.

Confidence reflects the data behind each reading: high when clear passes or strong sources agree, medium on a partial or single-source signal, low where the data is sparse or indirect. A low-confidence reading usually needs one more clear pass, or a check on the ground.

What the land is telling us

Read across the record, the land reads as stable to regenerating: the core cover and water signals are holding, which means the work is to build on a sound base rather than to reverse a decline.

Of the land's core processes, the water cycle reads as adequate to abundant, so the question is less supply than how well the land captures and holds what falls and community dynamics look rich, with a deep record of documented life nearby. What orbit cannot see is what happens below the surface — soil biology, structure, and the carbon held in the ground — so treat those as the first things to confirm underfoot.

Taken together, this is land with sound foundations and clear regenerative upside. Its clearest strength to build from is that a watercourse runs through the parcel.

Where the capital goes · corridor & deployment

78Conservation priority

CorridorRestoration gap

Inside the corridor network, with restoration upside.

inside the network, with restoration upside

Two lenses, two numbers: the Land Score reads this land's own body; conservation priority reads its position in the network. When they disagree, the gap itself is the finding.

Nearest declared corridor: Corredor Biológico Paso de la Danta, about 1 km · Área de Conservación Pacífico Central / Osa (ACOPAC / ACOSA)

This reads as a break in the corridor to close, scoring 78 out of 100 for conservation priority. It sits in the corridor network, where capital spent on restoration compounds into connectivity. A small, low-footprint operation (fit 65/100) could fund the work from the already-worked ground.

65/100

Hospitality fit

The funding layer: a small, low-footprint operation sited on the already-worked ground, sized to carry the restoration — never spending the habitat it depends on.

Corridorlow confidence

The nearest declared corridor is the Corredor Biológico Paso de la Danta, about 1 km away (screening).

The parcel reads as outside the mapped network, so its connectivity value comes from what it holds and what protected land sits beside it rather than a corridor mandate. That corridor links Fila Costeña / Talamanca foothills, Parque Nacional Marino Ballena, Costa Ballena.

Nearest PNCB screening extent ~1 km. Extents are approximate — confirm against SINAC/PNCB.

Conservationmedium confidence

This reads as a gap in the corridor — restoring cover here closes a break in connectivity.

A cleared or thin stretch inside the network is the highest-leverage place to restore: replanting or assisted regeneration here reconnects habitat that is otherwise cut, which a stand of forest outside the corridor cannot do.

29% tree cover.

Hospitalitymedium confidence

A small hospitality operation could carry the conservation here.

In the regenerative model the lodging is a means, not the end: a low-footprint operation sited on the already-worked ground earns the revenue that funds the restoration and stewardship, while the core is left to recover. Kept small, it also gives the corridor local guardians with a reason to hold it.

Hospitality fit 65/100, drawing on relief for views, water on site. Site any building on the disturbed matrix, not the habitat.

Capital moves

01
Tie up the land before restoring it — purchase or an easement that holds through a sale.
Before committing
Restoration is a multi-year investment; without secure tenure the connectivity it builds can be undone by the next owner.
Confirm on the ground · Trace the title with a local lawyer and pull the cadastral record; check FONAFIFO PSA eligibility (reforestation or regeneration) for the parcel.
02
Close the gap: replant the cleared ground and let the neighbouring forest seed back in.
First year
This parcel is where the corridor is broken, so restoring cover here reconnects habitat — the single highest-leverage ecological move on the land.
Confirm on the ground · Walk the parcel with a restoration ecologist to map what to plant and where natural regeneration will do the work on its own; confirm the seed sources in the adjacent forest.
03
Site a small, low-footprint hospitality operation on the already-worked ground to fund the stewardship.
Once the land is secured
A modest operation on the disturbed matrix earns the revenue that pays for the restoration and the guardians, without spending the habitat it depends on.
Confirm on the ground · Model the operation at a size the land can carry, keep it off the habitat, and check the Certificado de Sostenibilidad Turística (CST) and local zoning before designing anything.
04
Set a connectivity baseline and re-read it — camera traps and the species the corridor was declared for.
Ongoing
Funders and partners judge a corridor by whether wildlife actually moves through it; a repeatable baseline is what turns the thesis into evidence and steers the next round of capital.
Confirm on the ground · Run camera traps and species counts on a fixed schedule — track the indicator species named for this corridor (Baird's-tapir connectivity from the coastal ridge down to the Ballena coast at Uvita and Dominical).

The deployment reading is a screening lens layered on the Land Score — it points capital at the land where it builds the most connectivity, and each move is paired with the ground-truth step that confirms it. Corridor extents are approximate PNCB screening footprints; confirm a parcel against the official SINAC/PNCB record.

How it compares

75thpercentile · Neotropic

Ranked against 81 readings · same region

74th percentile against all 85 readings so far — the cohort rank above is the fairer one; this is the wider one.

Stronger land than 75% of the 81 readings logged in Neotropic. Freedom from development pressure is its strongest signal here (85th percentile), ecology its weakest (43rd). Rainfall is declining across the landscape to the south-west.

Percentile by reading · higher is better land

Water

47th

Ecology

43rd

Climate

67th

Low pressure

85th

Landscape · 6 readings within 38 km

·Rainfall is declining across the landscape to the south-west
·Land reads weaker toward the south-west

Percentiles compare this reading against the growing corpus of public TERRA readings in like land — not all land on Earth. They sharpen as the wall grows.

The physical frame

Climate, water, soil, and shape — what the land is made of and what moves across it.

Climate · to 2050

Annual rainfall, 2004–2024 · mm

7.6°C

Mean temp

+1.8°C

2050 Δ temp

-7%

2050 Δ rain

Exposure · High

2050 sits within a single planning horizon — about 24 years out. The models expect seasons here about 1.8°C warmer than today's, with 7% less rain. Expect is the honest verb: this is the middle of a range of futures, not a certainty — so design to the range, not to today.

Water

3,322mm/yr

Rainfall

+15.2%

20-yr trend

On site

To watercourse

Río Skú · Río Chirripó Pacífico · Río Chirripó · Río Talari

Soil · 0–30 cm

Source unavailable for this parcel.

Terrain & cover

3,482m

Elevation

10.3°

Mean slope

29%

Forest

Built

Grassland 71%Tree cover 29%

The living surface

What grows here, what is being lost, and what presses on it.

Ecology

4,320

Recorded wildlife observations

GBIF · the global species-record archive

Junco vulcani · Turdus nigrescens · Selasphorus flammula · Zonotrichia capensis

Pressure

—km

To road

—km

To settlement

Forest history · since 2000

34%

Tree cover 2000

0.1%

Cover lost

2018

Latest loss

Hansen Global Forest Change GFC-2023-v1.11

Record & context

What the state and its institutions say about this ground.

Costa Rica ecological corridor

Nearby

Corridor

~1 km away

Área de Conservación Pacífico Central / Osa (ACOPAC / ACOSA)

Conservation area

Corredor Biológico Paso de la Danta

Baird's-tapir connectivity from the coastal ridge down to the Ballena coast at Uvita and Dominical.

Connects · Fila Costeña / Talamanca foothills · Parque Nacional Marino Ballena · Costa Ballena

PNCB / SINAC — Corredores Biológicos (screening reference) · approximate screening extent — confirm against the official SINAC / PNCB record

See the corridor network →

Costa Rica land record

Telire, Talamanca, Limón

Jurisdiction

SNIT Costa Rica (IGN / IDECORI) · official national data — verify title & permits locally

Below the surface

The fungal networks that move water and nutrients between roots.

Underground fungal networks

Outside

Arbuscular fungi

partners of most crops & pastures

Outside

Ectomycorrhizal fungi

partners of much timber & forest

SPUN Underground Atlas (Van Nuland et al. 2025) · 1 km model of underground fungal biodiversity · hotspots = global top decile of predicted richness

Best-fit regenerative model

Upper-watershed research station

67/100 fit

Guard the headwaters; study what they hold.

At 3,482 m with 29% tree cover, this reads as intact montane headwater forest — high-value habitat whose biodiversity and water function justify guarding it and studying what it holds.

Intact montane forest at the top of a watershed, rich enough to justify a small research-and-education presence that funds protection of the water tower below.

3,482 m elevation29% forest10.3° slope3,322 mm rain/yrcorridor ~1 km

Also consider · Watershed protection (53) · Ecolodge / retreat (37)

A published, rules-based suggestion read from the parcel's own indicators — forest, water, slope, access, and its place in the network. It names the shape of project the land is already set up to carry; confirm it against tenure, soils, and what you know from the ground. These fit numbers rank whole project models against each other; the deployment lens's hospitality fit (65/100) is a different scale that asks only whether a small lodge could fund the stewardship here — the two need not match.

What to do

01
Design roads and structures to the contour, and get a geotechnical and erosion assessment before any earthworks.
Before committing
Steep ground raises building and access costs and erosion risk; the terrain sets the layout, not the other way round.
Confirm on the ground · Have a geotechnical engineer assess slope stability and cut-and-fill on the ground before a road line is committed.
02
Design to the 2050 climate projections rather than today's conditions.
First year
The land is strongly exposed to projected change, so species, water storage, and infrastructure should be chosen for the conditions ahead.
Confirm on the ground · Cross-check the projections against the memory of long-time residents on how the seasons have already shifted here.
03
Commission a ground soil survey before any agricultural or restoration decision.
Before committing
Satellites cannot read soil biology, structure, or below-ground carbon — the very things that decide what will grow — and no survey data is available here.
Confirm on the ground · Take samples across the parcel for a lab test of organic carbon, texture, and pH, and dig a pit to read the profile and rooting depth.
04
Walk the land to scope the regenerative work before committing capital.
First visit
The foundations are present and the upside is real, but sequencing the work well is what realises it.
Confirm on the ground · Read the water, soil, and cover on the ground, then plan the work from the most permanent layer down.

Questions to sit with

If the seasons here shift as the models expect, which of your intentions for the land still hold — and which need rethinking now?
Are you here to hold this land as it is, to work it, or to help it change — and does the reading above serve that intention?
If the work succeeds, what do the water, the canopy, and the people around this land look like a generation from now — and what is the first condition that has to change for that to begin?
Where does this reading disagree with what you have seen walking the land? That disagreement is the first thing to check on the ground.

These are not data gaps — they are the questions the data cannot answer.

Ask the analyst

Answers are grounded in this parcel's reading and tagged by basis — observed is measured, derived is reasoned from measurements, estimated is model-based, and unknown is said plainly. The conversation stays in your browser.

Reading this land to

Talk it through with Gregorio

This reading is built from satellite and open data. It cannot see soil biology, legal tenure, or what you already know from walking the land — a 30-minute call tests the reading against the ground and sequences the work. No cost, no obligation.

Schedule a 30-min call →See services or email Gregorio

Sources & method · 11 layers→

Water, roads & protected areas — OpenStreetMap

Overpass (waterways, highways, places, protected areas)

vector · live

ODbL 1.0

Biodiversity — GBIF

Occurrence records (count + top species)

point · live

Mixed CC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-NC (per dataset)

Costa Rica territorial record — SNIT

Administrative units, cadastral parcels, agrological land-capability, protected areas, Holdridge life zones (WFS)

vector (1:5 000 base) · national SDI (rolling)

SNIT Condiciones Generales de Uso (attribution)

Ecological corridors — PNCB / SINAC (Costa Rica)

Declared biological corridors (bundled screening reference of official corridors; approximate extents — confirm against SINAC/PNCB)

screening extent · PNCB (rolling)

Public programme (SINAC); reference compiled for screening

Place — OpenStreetMap / Nominatim

Nominatim reverse geocode

settlement · live

ODbL 1.0

Terrain — AWS Terrarium (Mapzen)

Terrarium elevation tiles

~10 m (z12) · 2017

Open (attribution)

Climate — Open-Meteo

Archive 2004–2024 + MPI-ESM1-2-XR to 2050

~9 km · 2004–2024 / 2045–2049

CC-BY 4.0 (data); non-commercial API tier

Land cover — ESA WorldCover

WorldCover 2021 v200

10 m · 2021

CC-BY 4.0 (commercial promotion: notify due@esa.int)

Surface water — JRC Global Surface Water

Global Surface Water v1.4 — occurrence & seasonality

30 m · 1984–2021

Copernicus / open (attribution)

Forest loss — Hansen Global Forest Change

Global Forest Change (tree cover 2000 + annual loss)

~30 m · 2000–2023

CC-BY 4.0

Underground fungal networks — SPUN Underground Atlas

Top-decile hotspots of predicted AM + ECM fungal richness (Van Nuland et al. 2025, Nature; Zenodo 10.5281/zenodo.14871588)

1 km · 2025 (v1.0)

No explicit license on the archive — terms requested from SPUN; attribution given

Every number above is public, open data — named, dated, and licensed. What TERRA does not publish is the lens: the weights, curves, and verdict thresholds that turn these layers into a Land Score. That judgment is calibrated from land walked on the ground, and it stays proprietary.

Unavailable for this parcel: Sentinel-2, the radar, the soil survey, the governance record, the thermal read — the affected pillars were reweighted, not guessed.

Generated Sun, 23 Aug 2026 19:44:26 GMT · 3.5s · synthesized by TERRA.