Constitutional Court
Ratifies Land
Expropriations At Las
Baulas Park
(Infocom) — Last Aug.
26, a second protection
appeal was filed before
the Constitutional Court
with the goal of
expropriating private
land in front of the
beach at Guanacaste’s
Las Baulas Marine
National Park and
surrounding areas.
The appeal was presented
by Mario Boza, one of
the pioneers of Costa
Rica’s national park
system and Clara
Padilla, director of the
Baulas Trust — who have
been working with
support of conservation
organizations and other
entities to achieve the
land-seizing following a
decade-long legal
dispute.
The Constitutional Court
magistrates ruled in
favor of this second
appeal, same as they had
done in the case of the
first appealed filed
April 30 of this year.
The Court’s resolution
order the Ministry of
the Environment and
Energy (MINAE) to,
within five business
days, begin the
expropriation process in
accordance with the law.
However, supporters of
the leatherback turtle
sanctuary (located in
prime Santa Cruz canton
tourism and real estate
coastal land) are still
waiting on MINAE to act
on the two appeals.
Meanwhile, a bill is now
in Congress that seeks
to protect the habitat
of leatherback turtles
(which are critically
endangered),
specifically in the Las
Baulas Marine National
Park.
The bill is
substantiated in the
fact that Costa Rica is
well-known worldwide as
a key nesting site for
the giant sea turtles,
whose numbers have been
declining dramatically
in the past few years.
But even in Costa Rica,
populations of this
reptile continue to
fall, to the point that
of the more than 1,800
turtles that came to lay
their eggs here in 1998,
less than 58 showed up
in 2007, according to
the bill currently being
considered by the
Legislative Assembly.
This bill acknowledges
that it has been
scientifically proven
that the physical
characteristics of the
areas preferred by
leatherbacks to nest
include wide, long and
sandy beaches free of
rocks and pebbles, with
soft slopes that end in
a large and high mound
where the reptiles can
lay their eggs — such as
Playa Grande and
Ventanas.
The Constitutional
Court’s announcement was
made at a time when 40
international
specialists are defining
mechanisms to articulate
work on a Pacific marine
corridor, which would
include the Las Baulas
Marine National Park.
According to MINAE, this
initiative will seek to
position the corridor as
a sanctuary for endemic
species.
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