Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: National Parks in Crisis

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SAN JOSE, Mar 27 2004 (IPS) - Costa Rica's national parks are in an distressing state of abandon due to lack of money to hire the 300 park rangers necessary to protect areas' biodiversity from hunters, charged Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, the national environment minister. The government should declare a national emergency in order to raise awareness of the fact that destruction of protected areas will have serious consequences for the environment and for Costa Rica's lucrative tourism industry.

Costa Rica has 32 such areas, including nature refuges, parks and reserves, and seen as one of the world leaders in the development of ecotourism.

At Corcovado National Park, in the southern part of the country, indiscriminate hunting of 'saínos', or peccary (Tayassu pecari), threatens to push them into extinction in the short term, says Rodríguez.