Archive for the 'Environmental' Category

Dairy Giant to Pay Damages to Environment

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

by Rod Hughes
Dos Pinos, the dairy products giant that not only has the lionĀ“s share of the Costa Rican market for milk, ICE cream, etc. but is an exporter of these products, has been fined $150,000 by the Administrative Envrionment Tribunal, reported the newspaper La Nacion today. The fine […]

Nation’s Territorial Waters Have 6,000+ Species

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
Costa Rica’s territorial waters, only a drop in the planet’s oceans, contain 6,778 species of marine life, or 3.5% of the species on the planet. This is pretty good, since the tiny area comprises only .16% of the all oceans’ surface area. This information is revealed in the […]

Environmental Tribunal Closes three Condos

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
The Environmental Tribunal shut down three condominium projects yesterday because of damage to the habitat. They are the “Costa Montana” and “Hermosa Vista” condo projects near Jaco Beach as well as “Hills of Esterillos” at Parrita, totalling 360 dwellings in all.
According to the […]

Error in Law Leaves Territorial Waters Open to Illegal Fishing

Monday, March 3rd, 2008

by Rod Hughes
An error in a law passed three years ago inadvertantly leaves open Costa Rican territorial waters, including wildlife perserve Cocos Island, to illegal fishing. The error was not discovered until the prosecution of the tuna fishing boat Tiuna Jan. 29.
The law was aimed […]

Illegal Tuna Fishermen Released

Monday, February 18th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
In an unusual move, Costa Rica’s top prosecutor, Francisco Dall’Anese, launched harsh criticism of a Puntarenas judge who released 22 seamen arrested for fishing in the Cocos Island wildlife preserve. “This sets a bad precedent,” said Dall’Anese, “It says to international tuna fishermen that they can come to […]

Stone Spheres: A Costa Rican Mystery

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
One of the great archaeological mysteries of this country are the pre-Columbian stone spheres, some basketball size, others 15-ton monsters. One was found on its original site last month, on an archaeological dig in Palmar Sur, in southern Costa Rica near the Pacific Ocean.
[…]

Banana Raisers Study Chemical Reduction

Friday, February 8th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
It’s no secret that people like bananas, one of this country’s most lucrative and oldest export crops. But so do a host of tropic enemies.
Insects feast on the leaves, the dread Black Sigatoka fungus kills the plant and nematodes, parasites, gnaw on the […]

Farmers Gear Up for Ethanol Production

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008

by Rod Hughes
Some of the nation’s farmers are gearing up for sugar cane and palm oil production, anticipating the promised RECOPE refinery introduction of ethanol-laced gasoline and diesel. The newspaper La Nacion has reported that 10,000 hectares of cane have been seeded as well as another 10,000 in oul palm […]

CR Moves to Stop Shark Finning

Monday, December 10th, 2007

by Rod Hughes
The recent documentary film “Sharkwater” that criticized the Costa Rican government’s inaction in curbing the cruel shark finning practice in its Pacific territorial waters first resulted in official denial and then a remarkably elegant solution.
Shark finning is mainly done by foreign commercial fishing […]

Mangroves Destroyed with Permit from Biologist

Monday, November 26th, 2007

by Rod Hughes
Right Hand Ignoring Left Hand’s Actions Dept. As reported in La Nacion today, functionaries of the Central Pacific Conservation Area of the Environment Ministry thought they had stopped a project that would have destroyed a mangrove swamp in Parrita, Puntarenas province. But they found to their horror that […]