Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber has confirmed that the moratorium on tree-felling permits in the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Pole remains fully in force, keeping a major legal freeze in place over parts of one of Guanacaste’s most valuable resort development zones.
The latest clarification came from Sala IV magistrate Anamari Garro Vargas, who confirmed that the precautionary measure ordered in April still blocks the granting of tree-cutting permits in the Gulf of Papagayo tourism zone when tied to hotel development. Her resolution responded to a filing connected to a SINAC administrative act authorizing tree cutting linked to a Papagayo concession.
The case centers on a constitutional challenge to Executive Decree 44448-MP-TUR, a regulation approved under the Rodrigo Chaves administration. The decree allows concession holders in Papagayo to use a mechanism known as compensation of density or coverage, letting them concentrate construction rights on one lot while leaving other concession lots undeveloped. The challenged rules allow that transfer between lots held by the same concessionaire, including non-adjacent properties.
Magistrate Fernando Cruz Castro issued the original precautionary measures on April 17 while the court reviews the substance of the constitutional action. The measures were intended to prevent possible serious and irreversible environmental damage in the tourism pole before the court reaches a final ruling.
Those measures include three main restrictions: a total moratorium on tree-felling permits in the context of hotel projects, a suspension of construction authorizations and density modifications in the Papagayo Tourism Pole, and a suspension of administrative acts by MINAE, SETENA and the Costa Rica Tourism Board when based on the contested regulations.
The May 5 clarification did not lift the tree-cutting moratorium. It narrowed the suspension of construction authorizations and density modifications to cases in which the compensation of density and coverage rules have been applied or are intended to be applied. Garro Vargas confirmed that the full moratorium on tree-felling permits remains active for hotel-related development in Papagayo.
The dispute has become one of the most closely watched environmental and tourism development cases in Costa Rica. Papagayo is a state-backed tourism area in Guanacaste, administered through concessions and long promoted as a high-end resort zone. The area includes some of the country’s most expensive coastal tourism projects and is viewed by the tourism sector as a major investment hub.
Environmental groups and the plaintiffs argue that the disputed decree changes the original low-density model of Papagayo by allowing construction rights to be pooled across lots. The action claims the reform could push development beyond the environmental limits originally planned for individual concessions, with possible effects on coastal ecosystems, biodiversity, water use and land-use pressure.
The Attorney General’s Office has already told the court that the decree presents constitutional problems. Its nonbinding opinion said the reform weakens environmental safeguards by eliminating density control by individual lot and allowing construction concentration without enough technical support. It also cited the lack of capacity studies and cumulative environmental impact analysis before the rule change.
Business groups tied to Papagayo have pushed back. The Association of Concessionaires of the Papagayo Gulf Tourism Pole asked the Constitutional Chamber to reverse the precautionary measures, arguing that the freeze affects major investment and projects in the area. The group said the stoppage could affect 17 projects, more than 4,000 hotel rooms and projected investment of more than $2.8 billion.
For now, the court’s position leaves the most sensitive parts of the development process on hold. Tree-felling permits tied to hotel projects remain blocked, and construction or density changes connected to the contested compensation rules cannot move forward while the constitutional case remains unresolved.
A final ruling on the legality of the decree has not yet been issued. Until then, the Papagayo case remains a test of how far Costa Rica is willing to let high-end tourism expansion go in one of its most valuable coastal zones before the courts demand stronger environmental safeguards.
