If you hear the phrase “Environmental Fair,” and you picture a few bearded guys singing “Kumbaya” around a newly planted tree, rest assured that 10th annual Feria Ambiental is nothing like that.
A comprehensive Tico Times analysis of the environmental successes and failures by the outgoing National Liberation Party administration of Laura Chinchilla. The first part in a two part series about the future of the environment in Costa Rica.
Illegal hunting, logging and mining operations don't always operate during convenient nine-to-five business hours. For park rangers, policing these activities is a 24-hour job. For the first time, they are going to be paid for it.
Tourism entrepreneurs in the canton of Guatuso, in northeastern Alajuela, are on the verge of losing their businesses following the closure of a path known as “La Paz” that provides the community access to popular tourist destinations in the Tenorio Volcano National Park. Those destinations include Río Celeste, Laguna Azul, La Paz waterfall, and a sector of hot springs.
Public zoos will remain open in Costa Rica for at least 10 more years following a court ruling last Friday. An administrative court ruled in favor of nonprofit group FUNDAZOO, which administers San José's Simón Bolívar Zoo and the Santa Ana Conservation Center, citing a contractual technicality that will allow the group to continue operating the zoos until 2024. The Environment Ministry, or MINAE, had said it would close both zoos in May.
With the approach of Costa Rica’s driest time of the year, propaganda to prevent forest fires has begun flying. Spearheaded by Costa Rica’s own version of Smokey Bear, Toño the Pizote, the “Summer Without Forest Fires” campaign launched on Wednesday.
In February, endangered leatherback sea turtles will begin nesting on Moín Beach, where conservationist Jairo Mora was killed by poachers last May. Police and government officials have no plans to protect the turtles, and environmentalists are now pushing to designate the area as a national park. But even that would be too late for this year's baby turtles.
