Costa Rica has launched Costa Rica Azul, a free digital platform aimed at bringing our country’s marine ecosystems closer to students, teachers, and the general public. The new tool, presented by the Esencial Costa Rica country brand, is built to strengthen ocean education and encourage conservation through interactive content focused on marine biodiversity, ecosystems, and environmental risks.
The launch puts fresh attention on a reality that still surprises many people in Costa Rica: the country is far more ocean than land. Esencial Costa Rica says 92% of national territory is ocean, and its marine area is about ten times larger than its landmass. The same source says Costa Rica holds about 3.5% of the planet’s marine biodiversity, giving the country an outsized role in regional and global ocean protection.
Costa Rica Azul is designed as an interactive experience rather than a static information page. The platform invites users to move through Costa Rica’s marine environments and learn about species, habitats, and the conditions that shape life underwater. The site includes material on reefs, seamounts, temperature, pressure, and the threats facing marine life, including overfishing. The official platform describes the project as a guided exploration of the country’s ocean depth and biodiversity.
One of the strongest parts of the project is its link to the classroom. The platform was developed in coordination with Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Education, and the material is meant to support science and biology lessons for students in Third Cycle and Diversified Education. That gives the initiative a practical path into schools instead of leaving it as a standalone awareness campaign.
The educational push is backed by the scale of Costa Rica’s marine wealth. The Schmidt Ocean Institute has reported that more than 7,000 marine species have been recorded in our country, with new species still being documented. That biodiversity sits inside an ocean system that matters well beyond Costa Rica’s borders. The United Nations says the ocean generates about half of the oxygen people need and absorbs about 30% of human-produced carbon dioxide, underscoring why marine education is increasingly tied to climate policy as well as conservation.
For Costa Rica, Costa Rica Azul looks like an effort to close a gap between reputation and public knowledge. Our country has long marketed itself as a conservation leader, but much of that image has centered on forests, wildlife on land, and national parks. This platform shifts part of that focus offshore, where much of Costa Rica’s territory and biodiversity actually lie.
By tying ocean literacy to public education and making the content freely accessible, the initiative gives marine conservation a more visible place in our country’s environmental identity.
