Thousands support Las Baulas National Marine Park.

Thousands support Las Baulas National Marine Park.

Environmentalists demand lawful expropriations.

from www.Pretoma.org

(August 29th, 2007. San José, Costa Rica). On Wednesday August 29th, members of the Costa Rican National Network for Sea Turtle Conservation delivered a letter to President Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez, declaring their concern because authorities have not yet carried out with expropriations in Guanacaste's Las Baulas National Marine Park. Since January of 2006, the General Attorney's office (C 444-2005) gave the green light for the government to expropriate properties that legally belong to the National Park, but unfortunately, the public interest has not prevailed and the process has been stalled since May 29 of the present year. Up to date, only 0.22% of the land has been expropriated.

The environmentalist's letter was accompanied by a petition signed by 7685 Costa Rican citizens, calling for the immediate recovery and protection of coastal lands, as a measure to ensure the ecological integrity of the most important leatherback nesting beach in the Pacific coast of the Americas, threatened by the unregulated and unsustainable urban development in Guanacaste.

“The government appears to be determined to defend the interest of investors, who expect expropriation values which are out of proportion with the current real estate market in Guanacaste” complained Randall Arauz, from the Sea Turtle Restoration Program. “Investors bought those properties fully aware that they were within the boundaries of a National Park, and besides, the Law establishes that the price to be paid must be fixed by the Internal Revenue Ministry, therefore, there is no justification for stalling the process,” Arauz informed.

The situation of Las Baulas National Marine Park is not new to President Dr. Oscar Arias. In 1990, during his first term as President, he received a letter signed by over 150 international sea turtle experts participating in the Tenth Annual Workshop on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation (Jekyll Island, South Carolina), asking for his intervention to protect such an important nesting beach form the coastal development.

“It is a pity, because if 17 years ago President Arias had listened to the voice of these experts, we wouldn't be in the current situation,” lamented Claudio Quesada from Asociación ANAI. “We hope president Arias and his Peace with Nature initiative will take this opportunity, possibly the last one, to demonstrate his commitment to the leatherback turtle and sustainable development of the Guanacaste coast”, Quesada said.

The properties to be expropriated consist of a 75 meter strip along three kilometers of beach adding up to a total of 46.6 hectares. These properties are in the hands of investors who wish to carry out urban development projects, which would alter the conditions of the ecosystem necessary for the leatherback turtle to nest. “There is scientific and legal criteria available as well as the international financial support necessary to proceed immediately with the protection of the Park and it is still a mystery to us why there is no progress on the subject,” explained Didiher Chacón from Asociación WIDECAST-Costa Rica.

“We do not know what is happening; we are not talking about expropriating a coastal community which has lived for generations on the site. On the contrary, the owners of these properties are mostly companies and partnerships which should not have a higher priority than the natural resources that belong to all Costa Ricans”, expressed Wagner Quirós, coordinator of the National Network for Sea Turtle Conservation.

What is even more contradictory is that the country is a member of several international agreements committed to protect these species, while the example it is setting is inconsistent. This is the case with the disregard shown for the recommendation established in Resolution 001 of the Inter-American Convention for the Conservation and Protection of Sea Turtles (IAC) which urges all countries with leatherback nesting beaches in the Eastern Pacific to take the necessary measures for their protection. Ironically, Costa Rica is the headquarters of the pro-tempore secretariat of the Convention and has formally requested to be the permanent secretariat.

Finally, it is only reasonable for the Costa Rican society to know that according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Pacific leatherback turtle is critically in danger of extinction and Las Baulas National Marine Park has been identified as the most important nesting site left in the Eastern Pacific. “This is serious, extinction is forever and we have the responsibility of handing over a biologically diverse Costa Rica to our children and not beaches filled with concrete”, concluded Rolando Castro from CEDARENA (Environmental Law and Natural Resources Center).