Demotion of Costa Rica's Las Baulas park raises doubts

The Costa Rican Ombudswoman’s Office announced on Thursday morning that it has serious doubts about a bill that would modify the limits of Las Baulas National Marine Park in Playa Grande, a beach in the northwestern province of Guanacaste.

The bill, which is currently under review by the Legislative Assembly’s Environment Commission, would change the status of the national park to that of a national wildlife refuge, which would permit construction within its limits. Building is not allowed in the area under its current designation as a national park.

The office declared that the bill “endangers the integrity of the National Marine Park” and “affects even the aquifers of the zone, which are cataloged as very vulnerable.”

A recent study by the National Groundwater, Irrigation and Drainage Service (SENARA) claims that the fragility of the water table near Playa Grande “does not permit any activity, with the exception of conservation and preservation.”

The ombudswoman’s office cited the study along with article three of Costa Rica’s biodiversity law and articles 50 and 89 of the constitution – all of which deal with conservation and environmental protection – as reasons for legislators to carefully evaluate the bill before deciding on a verdict.

Recalling the government’s Peace with Nature plan, ombudswoman Lisbeth Quesada said lawmakers “must respect pro-nature environmental principles in any proposal that deals with the environment.”

Legislators who support the bill have deemed the project a necessary step if the state is to control development inside the limits of the national park without the need to expropriate private properties. Landowners who live in the park have insisted that the land is worth approximately $1,200 per square meter.

Maureen Ballestero, a National Liberation Party (PLN) legislator and president of the Environment Commission, told The Tico Times that she “does not agree with the change in category of a national park,” but she said the state needs to find a way to protect the land without having to pay for it.