Conserving the Osa
In the early 1970s, a group of tropical
biologists working on the Osa Peninsula waged a campaign
to create a national park to protect what they realized
was a place of global importance. With swift action by the
Costa Rican National Park Service and help from The Nature
Conservancy and other conservation groups, Corcovado National
Park was created in 1975. Now encompassing one-third of
the peninsula, Corcovado is the crown jewel in Costa Rica’s
park system. However, scarce resources have created significant
management challenges for the park, and the park’s
few rangers are unable to curb illegal activities such as
poaching, mining and illegal fishing.
Across the gulf from Corcovado, conservationists
later targeted a second expanse of prime lowland rainforest
on the mainland. If protected, this tract would complement
the forests already conserved on the peninsula and provide
additional habitat for wildlife. In 1991, the Costa Rican
government established Piedras Blancas National Park with
the hope of eventually connecting it with Corcovado to create
a contiguous wilderness to ensure the preservation of biodiversity.
But today almost half the lands within the park remain in
private hands, still awaiting purchase by the government.
Meanwhile, to the north, the Térraba-Sierpe national
wetland was declared in 1994 to protect the largest mangrove
forest on the Pacific coast of Central America.
The lands between these three “anchors,”
called the Osa Biological Corridor, represent the critical
connection that holds the key to the Osa’s future.
Only with a secure linkage can the present
levels of biodiversity—including large mammals such
as jaguar, puma, peccaries and tapir—survive, as growing
geographic isolation limits genetic exchanges among different
populations. Almost all of the land in the Corridor is in
private hands, and many landholders rely on its natural
resources for their livelihoods. Without taking into consideration
the needs of these families and individuals, conservation
success will not be sustainable.
Biologists are also discovering that the
Osa’s ocean environments are as unique and valuable
as those on land, and conservationists are working to ensure
that they are quickly and sufficiently protected.
While land-based conservation efforts have
been under way for a quarter of a century, relatively little
attention has been paid to protecting marine resources.
Meanwhile, rapid tourism development and escalating pressure
on marine populations by both commercial and sport fishing
fleets is seriously threatening the ecological balance of
the Golfo Dulce and the seas around the Osa.
Objectives
1. Protect biodiversity
in the Osa’s parks, wildlife refuges, wetlands and
forest reserves by improving management practices and buying
private lands within the parks.
2. Connect key natural areas through a
“biological corridor” between Corcovado and
Piedras Blancas National Parks and the Terraba-Sierpe National
Wetland.
3. Establish the first comprehensive protection
program for marine and coastal resources in the Osa.
4. Build the capacity of local organizations
and communities to sustain conservation successes.
