Ostional Conservation, Development Plan
Unveiled
(InfoWebPress) Establishing a legal
framework specific to the Ostional National
Wildlife Refuge, which would at once help
accomplish conservation efforts and
formalize the status of those people now
living there, is one of the goals set forth
in a bill seeking to organize land use in
the park and protect its natural resources.
The bill would help create conditions of
social and economic stability necessary for
the refuge to meet its conservation
objectives, with the active participation of
local communities. The proposal seeks to
establish allowed land uses within the
refuge; regularize certain abnormal
situations taking place in the Guanacaste
coastal park; define the competencies of
organizations and public institutions within
the borders of the refuge, and provide legal
protection to holders of state land and
other public entities involved.
Supporters of the bill are trying to avoid a
possible conflict and social issues stemming
from the removal of a large number of people
living in coastal communities established in
the region where the Ostional National
Wildlife Refuge was incorporated.
Right now, there is an order from the
Constitutional Court, based on the
interpretation of current legislation, which
would allow for the removal of residents six
months after the notification of sentence
No. 2020-09. The notification was issued
last July 10, meaning the Ministry of the
Environment (MINAET) has until Jan. 10,
2010, to carry out the removal order.
Because of this situation, MINAET is in need
of a legal framework that would allow it to
meet its conservation objectives at Ostional
while legalizing the status of those
occupants of park land. Such a framework
would have to establish the criteria needed
for occupants to be legalized, as long as
they are not encroaching on areas that would
be deemed off limits and are engaged in land
uses that are fully authorized according to
the technical standards set forth in a
management plan for the refuge.
The bill’s goal is that state-owned land and
private land can coexist at Ostional, as
long as both uses meet the conservation
goals of the refuge.
To accomplish such an objective, the bill
would classify Ostional as a mixed-use
refuge, so that individuals can legally
occupy state land. This would prevent the
need to expropriate the land currently
occupied by individuals at national refuges,
which is a requirement according to article
37 of the Environmental Law.
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