Conservation International Costa Rica

Conservation International Costa Rica
Conservación Internacional Costa Rica
AbbreviationCI Costa Rica
TypeCountry programme
HeadquartersSan Pedro, San José Province, Costa Rica
Region served
Costa Rica
FieldsOceans; coastal and marine conservation; spatial planning; climate resilience
Parent organization
Conservation International
Websitewww.conservation.org/places/costa-rica

Conservation International Costa Rica (CI Costa Rica) is the Costa Rica country programme of Conservation International. Conservation International has worked in Costa Rica for more than 35 years and is based in San Pedro, San José Province.[1]

The programme works on ocean and coastal conservation planning and marine spatial planning, including initiatives linked to the Eastern Tropical Pacific seascape and marine protected areas.[1] CI Costa Rica participates in the Transforma-Innova programme, a multi-partner initiative implemented by GIZ with a consortium that includes CATIE, FUNBAM, UNDP and the CRUSA Foundation, focused on shifting agriculture, livestock and marine-coastal systems toward low-carbon and climate-resilient practices.[2][3][4]

CI Costa Rica also implements a grant-funded pilot project under the Blue Carbon Facility of Agence française de développement (AFD), linked to Costa Rica's National Blue Carbon Strategy and Action Plan, with field work focused on mangroves in the Gulf of Nicoya. The project pilots financing mechanisms including carbon credits, payments for marine ecosystem services, and biodiversity credits.[5][6][7][8]

In 2009, National Geographic Pristine Seas and partners including Conservation International conducted a marine expedition to Cocos Island National Park to study the island's ecosystems and establish scientific baselines for nearby seamounts. Surveys from the expedition were later analysed in studies of fish assemblages and deepwater communities around the island.[9][10][11]

History

Conservation International has worked in Costa Rica for more than 35 years and is based in San Pedro, San José Province.[1]

In 2009, National Geographic Pristine Seas and partners including Conservation International carried out field research at Cocos Island National Park and nearby seamounts to establish scientific baselines.[9] In 2011, Costa Rica created the Área Marina de Manejo Montes Submarinos as a managed area for seamount ecosystems in its Pacific waters.[12]

In December 2021, an executive decree expanded and modified the marine boundaries of Cocos Island National Park, increasing the protected marine area from 1,997 km2 to 54,844 km2. The decree also reformed earlier decrees related to offshore marine governance, including the seamount managed-area decree.[13][12] Scientific reports from the 2009 expedition informed the creation of the Bicentennial Marine Managed Area and the expansion of the national park's protected marine area.[9] In the 2020s, CI Costa Rica has participated in multi-partner programmes on low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathways (Transforma-Innova/TRANSFORMA) and began implementing a blue carbon pilot project with AFD support in 2025.[2][3][4][5]

Activities by location

Conservation International Costa Rica is located in Central America
1
1
2
2
3
3
Selected programme locations in Costa Rica and the eastern Pacific (1 San Pedro; 2 Gulf of Nicoya; 3 Cocos Island National Park)

San José Province

Conservation International's Costa Rica programme is based in San Pedro, San José Province.[1] The programme works on ocean and coastal conservation planning and marine spatial planning, including initiatives linked to the Eastern Tropical Pacific seascape and marine protected areas, and participates in the Transforma-Innova programme implemented by GIZ with consortium partners including CATIE, FUNBAM, UNDP and the CRUSA Foundation.[1][2][3][4] In 2023, MINAE and INCOPESCA listed Conservation International among organisations invited to participate in studies on shrimp fisheries, including assessments of potential impacts of fishing gear and monitoring approaches.[14]

Gulf of Nicoya

CI Costa Rica implements a grant-funded pilot project under AFD's Blue Carbon Facility to support Costa Rica's National Blue Carbon Strategy and Action Plan, with field work in mangroves in the Gulf of Nicoya. The project pilots financing mechanisms including carbon credits, payments for marine ecosystem services, and biodiversity credits.[5][6][7][8]

The National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) set out a regional strategy for mangrove management and conservation in the Gulf of Nicoya (2019-2030), developed with technical work by CATIE and technical review by CI Costa Rica staff.[15]

Transforma-Innova field activities in Puntarenas Province have included mangrove restoration in the communities of La Pitahaya and El Establo, including community-led channel restoration intended to reconnect mangrove areas to estuarine waters; consortium partners including Conservación Internacional support this work.[16] Mangrove protection and restoration work in Costa Rica has included cooperation with coastal communities and restoration protocols designed to support long-term sustainability.[17] In 2018, Conservation International supported community-based mangrove restoration work that included livelihoods-related activities connected to mangrove-associated fisheries products such as crabs and clams.[18]

Cocos Island National Park

In 2009, National Geographic Pristine Seas and partners including Conservation International conducted a marine expedition to Cocos Island National Park to establish scientific baselines for ecosystems and nearby seamounts; expedition work included tagging sharks and sea turtles, measuring the abundance of reef fishes and sharks, and conducting surveys of seamounts around the island.[9] Surveys from the expedition were later analysed in studies reporting predator-dominated shallow-water fish assemblages at Cocos Island and deepwater fish communities in the park and at nearby seamounts (Las Gemelas).[10][11] Research at Cocos Island has also examined elasmobranch community composition and reported shifts in assemblage structure over time within the context of an offshore marine protected area.[19] A telemetry study of scalloped hammerhead sharks around Cocos Island reported funding support from Conservation International - Costa Rica, among other organisations.[20]

In December 2021, an executive decree expanded and modified the marine boundaries of Cocos Island National Park, increasing the protected marine area from 1,997 km2 to 54,844 km2.[13] The decree also referred to offshore governance measures for seamount ecosystems under earlier decrees.[13][12] Scientific reports from the 2009 expedition informed the creation of the Bicentennial Marine Managed Area and the expansion of the national park's protected marine area.[9] An Oryx case study analysed enforcement and compliance in offshore marine protected areas using Cocos Island as a case study.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Costa Rica". Conservation International.
  2. ^ a b c "Transforma-Innova". European Commission - International Partnerships.
  3. ^ a b c "Making Costa Rica's agricultural and blue production systems more climate sensitive - Transformative Low-carbon and Climate Resilient Pathways of Costa Rica (TRANSFORMA)". Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). October 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Mid Term Evaluation of the Project Transformative Low Carbon and Climate Resilient Pathways of Costa Rica: Executive Summary (PDF) (Report). International Climate Initiative (IKI). 24 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Pilot Project on Blue Carbon Ecosystems". Agence française de développement. 28 May 2025.
  6. ^ a b Martínez, Alonso (28 May 2025). "Francia destina 700 mil euros para apoyar a Costa Rica en la protección de manglares y ecosistemas marinos". Delfino.cr (in Spanish).
  7. ^ a b Núñez Chacón, María (29 May 2025). "Francia aportará ¢1.439 millones para restauración marítima y de humedales en zonas costeras, así como proyectos en Tempisque". Semanario Universidad (in Spanish).
  8. ^ a b "Le Costa Rica et la France renforcent leur alliance pour la conservation des ecosystèmes marins avec le lancement d'un projet de carbone bleu". Agence française de développement (AFD) (in French). 28 May 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Costa Rica Expands Cocos Island National Park by 27 times in size". National Geographic Society. 17 December 2021.
  10. ^ a b Friedlander, Alan M.; Zgliczynski, Brian J.; Ballesteros, E.; Aburto-Oropeza, O.; Bolaños, A.; Sala, Enric (2012). "The shallow-water fish assemblage of Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica: structure and patterns in an isolated, predator-dominated ecosystem". Revista de Biología Tropical. 60 (3): 321–338.
  11. ^ a b Starr, R. M.; Green, K.; Sala, E. (2012). "Deepwater fish assemblages at Isla del Coco National Park and Las Gemelas Seamount, Costa Rica". Revista de Biología Tropical. 60 (3): 347–362.
  12. ^ a b c Decreto Ejecutivo N° 36452-MINAET: Creación del Área Marina de Manejo Montes Submarinos (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). Presidencia de la República; Ministerio de Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones (MINAET). 3 March 2011.
  13. ^ a b c Decreto Ejecutivo N° 43368-MINAE: Ampliación y modificación de los límites del Parque Nacional Isla del Coco; reforma al Decreto Ejecutivo N° 29834-MINAE; reforma al Decreto Ejecutivo N° 36452-MINAE; y reforma al Decreto Ejecutivo N° 40054-MINAE (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). Presidencia de la República; Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE). 17 December 2021.
  14. ^ "MINAE e Incopesca iniciarán estudios sobre pesca de camarón". CRHoy.com (in Spanish). 6 February 2023.
  15. ^ Estrategia Regional para el Manejo y Conservación de los Manglares en el Golfo de Nicoya-Costa Rica 2019-2030 (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación (SINAC). 2019.
  16. ^ "Among Mangroves and Fungi, IKI Projects Demonstrate Their Impact in Costa Rica". IKI Central America and Caribbean. 30 June 2025.
  17. ^ "Costa Rica busca proteger los manglares con la participación de las comunidades y las ONG". EFEverde (in Spanish). Agencia EFE. 13 April 2022.
  18. ^ Fraser, Jewel (24 May 2018). "Conservation International helping communities rebuild mangroves". SeafoodSource.
  19. ^ White, Elizabeth R.; Myers, Margaret C.; Flemming, Joanna M.; Baum, Julia K. (2015). "Shifting elasmobranch community assemblage at Cocos Island - an isolated marine protected area". Conservation Biology. 29 (4): 1186–1197. Bibcode:2015ConBi..29.1186W. doi:10.1111/cobi.12478. PMID 25807991.
  20. ^ Nalesso, Elena; Hearn, Alex; Sosa-Nishizaki, Oscar; Bessudo, Sandra; Soler, Germán; Klimley, A. Peter; Ketchum, James T.; Arauz, Randall (2019). "Movements of scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) at Cocos Island, Costa Rica and between oceanic islands in the Eastern Tropical Pacific". PLOS ONE. 14 (3) e0213741. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1413741N. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213741. PMC 6413943.
  21. ^ Arias, A.; Pressey, R. L.; Jones, R. E.; Álvarez-Romero, J. G.; Cinner, J. E. (2016). "Optimizing enforcement and compliance in offshore marine protected areas: a case study from Cocos Island, Costa Rica". Oryx. 50 (1): 18–26. Bibcode:2016Oryx...50...18A. doi:10.1017/S0030605314000337.
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