Monday 10 November 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
ENVIRONMENT:
Costa Rica at a
Crossroads
By Daniel Zueras*
SAN JOSÉ, (Tierramérica)
- The Crucitas open-pit
gold mining project in
northern Costa Rica
could become an
environmental cross to
bear for the government
of Óscar Arias.
For more than two
decades Costa Rica has
cast itself as a pioneer
when it comes to
environmental matters.
But the concession for a
gold mine granted to the
Industrias Infinito
company, a subsidiary of
the Canada-based
Infinito Gold, has
stirred things up
between
environmentalists, who
are opposed to the
project, and the
government they accuse
of double dealing.
Infinito obtained a
government permit to cut
down 191 hectares of
forest in Las Crucitas
de Cutris, in the
northern province of
Alajuela. The area is
habitat to the almendro
tree (Dipteryx
panamensis), highly
prized for its hardwood
and for its role in the
feeding and nesting of
the great green macaw (Ara
ambigua), which is
facing extinction in
Costa Rica.
In northern Costa Rica,
deforestation in recent
decades has left less
than 30 percent of the
original forest
standing.
Furthermore, the
possible use of toxic
substances like cyanide
to extract gold from the
ore, and the proximity
of the mine to the San
Juan River, which Costa
Rica shares with
Nicaragua, have awakened
opposition to the mine
across the border.
In an executive decree,
President Arias and
Environment and Energy
Minister Roberto Dobles
declared the mine a
project of national
interest. In response,
the attorney general’s
office opened an
investigation of both
officials for breach of
duty.
When "functionaries
dictate resolutions
contrary to Costa Rican
and international law,"
they are committing
breach of duty, attorney
and environmental
consultant Mario Peña
told Tierramérica.
Costa Rica, which has
protected the almendro
tree by law, is party to
the Convention on
International Trade in
Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES).
This Central American
country requested the
inclusion of the tree in
the Convention's
Appendix III, aimed at
protecting the species
in at least one country.
The Convention then asks
the rest of the CITES
nations for help in
controlling trade. The
green macaw is listed on
Appendix I -- species
that face extinction and
the trade of which can
occur legally only in
exceptional
circumstances.
But Peña does not
believe the lawsuit will
go anywhere because
"everyone is claiming
ignorance. The president
says he trusted the
opinion of the minister,
and the minister trusted
his legal department. I
don't think the criminal
case is going to
succeed," he said,
because for charges of
breach of duty to stick,
it is necessary to prove
that the person who
committed the offence
was fully aware of what
they were doing.
Meanwhile, on Oct. 20,
the Supreme Court’s
constitutional chamber
ordered a halt to the
logging in response to
an appeal for protection
against the executive
decree filed by citizen
Edgardo Araya and the
local association Norte
por la Vida (roughly,
North for Life).
The Infinito company
estimates that it will
extract 700,000 ounces
of gold from the mine
over the next decade,
with an investment of 66
million dollars.
The 873-square-km rural
district of Cutris is
home to 8,000 people who
live in dire poverty.
Most work in Ciudad
Quesada, the capital of
San Carlos.
A large portion of the
population is in favour
of the gold mine because
it would create jobs.
Also, the company has
promised to improve
local health centres and
schools.
"It's not that I'm in
favour of the mine, but
I am in favour of
development
opportunities, and
that's what it
represents for us," said
Luis Guillermo Álvarez,
a resident of Coopevega,
one of the communities
near the mining site.
"The infrastructure that
the company leaves
behind is going to help
develop the area. Beyond
the 10 years that it is
here, the roads,
bridges, electricity,
telephones -- all of
that will remain," he
added.
"Whoever says there
won't be environmental
problems is lying, but
some of the
environmentalists are
extremists. It is a
modern mine and will be
regulated by the
government. We have to
sacrifice a little
environment in order to
survive. They should
monitor the mitigation
policies," said Álvarez.
"The environmentalists
have demonised the
issues of the green
macaw, but I've lived
here 25 years and I've
seen thousands of
almendros cut down," he
said.
Peña says he understands
the people of Las
Crucitas, because "the
government has forgotten
about certain areas,
facilitating projects
like this that
distribute crumbs to the
community. They are
projects that should
take time to carry out,
and they prefer to risk
their health and their
future for those
crumbs."
Minister Dobles denied
on Oct. 27 before the
legislature that the
green macaw nests in Las
Crucitas, noting that
the concentration of the
almendro tree is not
significant in that
area. He also stated
that the mining company
is required to plant 100
trees for each one cut
down.
Peña responded that it
"is a mistaken
idea...Probably Mr.
Roberto Dobles knows a
lot about energy and
telecommunications (the
other branches of his
ministry), but not about
the environment. A
forest takes 40 to 50
years to recover."
The minister assured
that the entire mining
project is supported by
studies from the
national environmental
technical secretariat
and that if the
constitutional court
upholds the decree, the
project will move
forward.
But not even the
lawmakers of the
governing National
Liberation Party
supported Dobles.
Legislative deputy
Maureen Ballestero, who
also heads the permanent
special committee on the
environment, criticised
the fissure being
created between economic
development and the
environment.
Much of the country's
growth has come from
tourism, which "has
provided more wealth
than exports have," she
said. "And Costa Rica's
tourism is based on its
exuberant wildlife and
nature."
Citizen and
environmental groups
gathered Oct. 27 outside
the Environment Ministry
and Congress to protest
the gold mine project
and to demand Dobles's
resignation. But groups
in favour of the mine
also rallied, which led
to some tension on the
streets.
On Nov. 14, groups
opposed to the mine in
San Carlos plan to stage
a nationwide protest.
(*This story was
originally published by
Latin American
newspapers that are part
of the Tierramérica
network. Tierramérica is
a specialised news
service produced by IPS
with the backing of the
United Nations
Development Programme,
United Nations
Environment Programme
and the World Bank.) |
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