Controversy over Donations to Preserve Turtle Nesting Grounds in Costa Rica.

For the past four years, The Leatherback Trust (TLT) and Costa Rica’s government agency, the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE) have worked together to protect the endangered leatherback turtle. TLT is a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to protecting this species. In 2004, the two entities agreed to join their efforts to raise funds and buy back privately-owned land that is thought to be intrusive to the turtles’ nesting grounds.

After years of cooperation TLT became upset over Costa Rica’s red tape government policies which have hindered efforts to protect the leatherbacks. After much heated debate, the joint effort came to a bitter end in February and now the fighting has begun over more than $7 million worth of funds that were raised.

MINAE is asking TLT to explain what the donated money was used for and why the land bought by the TLT for the Parque Marino Baulas (Leatherback Marine Park) was put in the name of the TLT, and not the Costa Rican government. The executive director of TLT, Clara Padilla, said they are preparing the information requested by the MINAE and will send a report soon. She explained that unused funds collected through donations will be returned to the Moore Foundation who originally donated the funds to TLT. They plan to refund the money as the land expropriations have not become a reality.

Hopefully the actions of the TLT will serve as a wake-up call to the Costa Rican government and the MINAE, that it is necessary to be efficient and move quickly to protect the country’s endangered species.

About Parque Marino Baulas

The Parque Marino Baulas (PMB) is located in Playa Grande in the province of Guanacaste. Baulas beach is close to Tamarindo, a popular tourist beach town destination, and supports the largest nesting colony of leatherback turtles in the Pacific Ocean with a population size of about 800 female turtles per year.

The park was originally created through a Presidential decree in 1990. The PMB is made up of three beaches, Playa Grande measuring 3.5 km, Playa Langosta at 1.3 km long, and Playa Ventanas at 1.0 km in length. The park also includes two mangrove estuaries, the Estero de Tamarindo, the largest mangrove estuary in Central America, and the smaller Estero de San Francisco.

Conservation efforts at PMB face many challenges. Factors like residential developments that disturb nesting beaches, intrusive tourism activities and the stealing of eggs for local consumption are problems that the turtles face every season. Although great efforts have been made and significant changes have occurred the PMB is still understaffed and does not receive enough funding to safely protect the leatherback turtles of Costa Rica.

Volunteers from Costa Rica and all over the globe go to PMB and other national parks in Costa Rica. These volunteers help in many aspects of the administration and day-to-day functions of the parks and are a great help to the under-staffed and underfunded national park system of Costa Rica. If you want to find out more about volunteering at PMB or another National Park of Costa Rica, contact the Asociación de Voluntarios Para El Servicio de las Areas Protegidas (ASVO) at www.asvocr.org .

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Filed under: Costa Rican Wildlife on March 19th, 2008