Costa Rica Leatherback Turtles – Government expropriates 32 farms on Playa Grande, Guanacaste to protect turtles

The government started the expropriation process of 32 farms for the purpose of protecting the main nesting area of the leatherback turtles at the Las Baulas Marine National Park, on Playa Grande, Guanacaste.

The national park is 46.6 hectares and the protected area is a 125 meter wide strip on Ventanas and Grande beaches. The protected area starts where the high tide water begins and extends inland.

The area covers Tamarindo, Ventanas and San Francisco estuaries, and its mangroves. El Morro Mountain behind Ventanas beach, Captain and Verde islands. In addition, the public areas of Tamarindo and Langosta beach. The park also has an area of 12 nautical miles (22Km) parallel to the coast.

Actually, most of the land around that area is owned by private developers so the government has started the expropriation process.

The construction of summer houses and hotels will increase the noise and the amount of light on the beach, said Randall Aráuz from Marine Turtles Restoration Program (PETROMA).

“The noise and excessive lighting confuses the and they get disoriented. In some cases, the damage is irreparable so that turtles never return to nest in the area again. This has happened on Mexican beaches.”

Historically, the leatherback turtles start spawning in mid October and it ends in March.

Legal expropriation can take from one to two years. Elizabeth Solano from SINAC (National System of Conservation Areas) said that the owners have the right to three appraisals from three different experts to determine the right price that the state must pay for their land.

Prliminary valuations are around US$800 per square meter however, the owners think that this is unfair. They said that they have carefully adjusted the lighting and noise levels to try and not affect the turtles. Ana Catalina facio also stated that: “The expropriations are unnecessary and will cost the country millions of dollars that it just does not have.”

A topographic study of the park is being made in order to determine if some other pieces of land have to be expropriated.

Our thanks to our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission use this article.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.