National Park Entrance
Fees Rise To Keep Up
With Inflation
Inflation will soon be
affecting the cost to
visit the national
parks, as the Ministerio
del Ambiente y Energía (MINAE),
had decided to raise
entrance fees by as much
as 67%.
Costa Rica's national
parks are managed by
MINAE. In 1998 the MINAE
established 11
conservation areas to
oversee and manage the
public lands.
The conservation areas
are known as the Sistema
Nacional de Areas de
Conservacion, or SINAC.
In total the SINAC
oversees 161 national
parks, biological
reserves, protected
zone, forest reserves,
wildlife refuges and
wetland/mangroves that
totals 1.304.306
hectares or 25% of the
national territoty.
Entrance to the 26
national parks has
always been a two a tier
system - one price for
nationals and another
for foreigners.
Currently it costs us$7
dollars for foreigners
to enter the national
parks, while Costa Rican
citizens pay only ¢600
colones (us$1.20). Once
the price hike takes
effect, visitors will
pay us$10, while Costa
Ricans ¢1.000 colones.
This will be the first
price hike at the
national parks since May
of 2002.
The MINAE defends the
hike to cover the
increased costs of
managing the parks and
in an agreement with the
Ministerio de Hacienda
(Revenue ministry), all
proceeds will go towards
park maintenance and
management. In the past
fees from the national
parks could be used by
Hacienda in other
government projects.
The irony in the price
increase comes at the
heels of SINAC's
contract expiry to
collect the park
entrances. As of January
31, SINAC will no longer
have the authority to
collect the park fees,
stemming from a Supreme
Court decision to
prohibit the use of the
park's income to collect
the fees.
Some of the parks that
will be affected by the
price increase are
popular tourist
destinations like the
Arenal Volcano, Chirripó,
Irazu Volcano, Las
Baulas National Marine
Park, Manuel Antonio,
Poas Volcano National
Park - the most visited
park in Costa Rica and
Tortuguero National Park
- famous sea turtle
conservation. |
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