Government’s War Against the Environment

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Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas | Photo 06

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Help! Costa Rica is under a terrorist attack by its own government! It’s no joke. The country’s vast and enviable nature, all its natural resources, rainforests and national reserves are at risk.

The most recent threat has been posed today as el Poder Ejecutivo has sent a project to the congress that is threatening to reduce Las Baulas National Park, which supports the largest nesting colony of leatherback turtles in the Pacific Ocean, to allow the expansion of real state projects on the area. This would put at risk not only turtles, but the water resources of the zone as well. Remember that leatherback sea turtles are now on the brink of extinction, and this national park is their only nesting haven in the East Pacific Ocean.

The project at hand, called "Ley de rectificación de límites del Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas y Creación del Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre las Baulas de propiedad mixta" is the third attempt of the Arias Government to dismember the protected areas within the national park, which coincide with the real-state market’s interest in the zone, and exclude them to allow private expansion.

The Servicio Nacional de Aguas Subterráneas, Riego y Avenamiento (SENARA) had already declared the aquifer of Huacas-Tamarindo as in “extreme vulnerability”. The possibility of hotels, condos and other real property settling on this zone could put it at risk.

I’ll be posting more on the war against the environment later. If you want to read further, please go here: http://www.elpais.cr/articulos.php?id=7690