by Rod Hughes

A five-year study by 18 scientists of the four monkey species resident in Costa Rica shows that numbers have dropped dangerously, according to a five-year study by the University of Costa Rica (UCR), the National University at Heredia (UNA) and the University of Medical Sciences.
Due to the mobile nature of primate groups, specific numbers are hard to pin down but it appears that the population has dropped 43% to 72%, depending on the species, since 1995. During that period howler monkeys, the hardest hit by die-offs, have dropped from about 102,000 to 36,000 this year, according to The Tico Times, traditionally the country’s publication that pays the most attention to environmental concerns. Spider monkeys fared only a little better, falling from 36,000 in 1995 to 7,225.
Deforestation and the disease that results from monkeys forced into ever-smaller forested areas are blamed. When the populations drop to a certain point, inbreeding can occur with the resulting weakening of the species’ resistence to disease. But other factors can be devastating as well, such as the 40% of monkey die-off at Corcovado National Park in Sept.-Nov., 2005, when abnormal cold and heavy rains reduced the amount of available food.
This can have economic effects on humans, as well. A large part of Costa Rica’s tourism industry is nature-based.
The same goes for the severely endangered leathback turtle that nests on the beach at Costa Rica’s Baula National Park. Turtles coming to the beach at Playa Grande to lay eggs declined precipitously over decades from several thousand to just 57 this year. As late as 1989, 1,367 came for nesting but last year only 125 were counted, reported the newspaper in an in-depth report.
Environmentalists blame development, saying that the 50-meter maritime limit for construction is not enough, that an additional 75 meter buffer zone should be added around turtle-nesting beaches. But the situation is far more complicated since it entails an exception to the maritime law that makes beaches public and landowners, mostly foreigners who have invested millions of dollars, say their land should not be taken over by the governmnent for the park.
It is likely that the controversy will rage on, probably in the courts, and besides, the government has no budget to pay owners for their land, even at rates set by the court.
Egg-laying season lasts only for six weeks or so each year and homeowners near nesting beaches may make their homes more low-impact with a few simple adjustments to their life-style. For example, they should make certain that no lights can be seen from the sea at night. That means drapes over windows and turning off outside floodlights that confuse the turtles’ navigation. It also means no loud noises amd unnecessary movement at night and dogs should not be allowed to roam the beach.

by Rod Hughes

An enormous explosion at Suministros Industriales de Costa Rica, a chemical plant, at 9 p.m. last night was a rude awakening for early-to-bed Alajuela residents. The blast was followed by a series of other blasts that sent boiling fire up to 175 feet in the air and had more than 150 firemen working feverishly until the small hours of the morning.
Neighbors nearby were evacuated and put up for the night in gymnasiums while firemen nervously eyed another neighbor that could not be moved—the Tomza propane gas company with its huge storage tank. Fortunately, the gas company did not catch fire, thanks to the action of firefighters. Early TV reports erred by saying the conflagration was at the Tomza plant.
The industrial facility produces resins. A similar explosion in 2001 destroyed 40% of the plant.
Some firemen were affected by toxic smoke from the burning resins.
Electricity to the zone was shut down to avoid short circuits that might have caused more problems and firefighters reported that their efforts were hamperedby a water shortage and a lack of hydrants in the Pacto de Jocote district where the plant is located.
Nor is this the first such fire in the past six months. In December of last year, an inferno at the chemical plant of Quimicos Holanda Costa Rica S. A. in the Caribbean port city of Moin near Limon destroyed four giant tanks of solvent, sending flames towering and causing the evacuation of 300 nearby residents ahead of the toxic smoke that blanketed the area. Two of three persons suffering burns died in the hospital and a spring serving 300 persons with drinking water was shut down.
The government called that blaze a national emergency and many termed it the worst disaster in recent history for its effects on health and environment.