World Biosphere Reserve
With the Caño Negro
Wetlands at the core of
it, UNESCO established a
new world biosphere
reserve. Agua y Paz
(Water and Peace) is the
name of the new
ecological area and it
is located in the
northern part of Costa
Rica, in the Los Chiles
canton of the province
of Alajuela.
A biosphere reserve is
an area of major natural
wealth, where the
preservation of natural
resources is the main
goal, but where the
rational economic use of
the area by the
neighboring communities
is also fostered.
Water and Peace
encompasses 916,000
hectares (2,263,436
acres); it is located in
the San Juan River
(Nicaragua) Watershed,
and extends from the
Central Volcanic
Mountain Range Reserve
in Costa Rica to the
Indio Maiz Reserve in
Nicaragua.
Several national parks
and wildlife reserves
are part of the new
sanctuary, chosen by
UNESCO among 33 sites
sponsored by 21
countries.
This is the third such
site in Costa Rica,
which also boasts of La
Amistad –in the
Talamanca mountain range
and shared with Panama–
and the Central Volcanic
Mountain Range –in the
central part of the
country–. |
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