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Manuel Antonio
National Park Seeks To Improve Services To
Tourists
(InfoWebPress) – The Manuel Antonio National
Park in Quepos (Central Pacific) is in need
of a series of improvements that would allow
it to not only offer better services to
visitors but also to remediate several
sanitary deficiencies that have plaguing the
popular beach destination for years.
Despite being one of the most visited
natural reserves in the country by both
foreigners and national tourists, the park
has only received minimal investment by the
Ministry of the Environment, which manages
the facility.
The most serious problems afflicting the
park are related to wastewater treatment,
the condition of toilets in the area and
potential dengue breeding grounds found in
the protected area. There’s also a garbage
dump inside the park and abandoned water
wells. All of this may have led to the
pollution of an estuary that visitors must
cross to reach the national park, and which
has been in the news recently.
Because of this situation, the Ministry of
Health was forced to close down some
facilities within Manuel Antonio, and gave
the Ministry of the Environment an ultimatum
to solve all of these issues no later than
June 27. Otherwise, health authorities would
deny access to the entire park.
It is estimated that some 120 million
colones ($218,000) will be invested in the
park, including improvements in wastewater
treatment, eradication of pollution sources,
and construction of new services for
visitors.
It is expected that Manuel Antonio will
benefit from a loan from the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB) for $19 million,
which is intended to support tourism in
protected areas around the country. The
loan’s terms are very beneficial for Costa
Rica, due to the payment conveniences it
offers.
This protected areas tourism program
represents a total investment of $25
million, wit the other $6 million coming
from matching funds provided by the Costa
Rican government and municipalities (local
governments will contribute $1,045,000 to
the project). The loan is to be repaid in 20
years, with a five-year grace period.
The Manuel Antonio National Park is located
in Puntarenas province, 7 kilometers south
of the city of Quepos between Damas and
Matapalo. It was established in November
1972, encompassing 1,983 land hectares and
55,000 hectares of ocean.
This park protects patches of primary
forest, secondary forests, mangrove, beach
vegetation, marine ecosystems, islands and a
lagoon. Representatives of the local flora
include trees such as guacimo colorado,
pilon, el cedro maria, guapinol blanco, sura,
guapinol negro (an endangered species),
lechoso, cenízaro and ceiba.
The park’s mangrove forest covers
approximately 18 hectares and is composed of
three species: red mangrove, white mangrove
and black mangrove. Beach vegetation
features the manzanillo tree, which produces
a milky substance and poisonous fruit,
almendro, roble sabana and coco.
Among the most popular animals in the park
are raccoons, coatis, guatuzas, two-toed
sloths, white face monkeys, several species
of cats and squirrel monkeys — a mammal
endemic in Manuel Antonio and which faces
extinction due to the destruction of its
habitat and its utilization as a pet.
It’s common to find in this area bird
species such as toucanets, pelicans, guacos,
fisher falcons and the chirin coca. The park
also houses many iguanas, lizards, snakes
and insects.
In terms of marine fauna, representative
species include morey eels, manta rays, sea
stars and angel fish.
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