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Carara corridor visitors have access to mature trees

Dutch mayor comes here
to push ecological corridor

By Ernst Roemers
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Leen Verbeek

What does Costa Rica do so wrong in nature management that a Dutch mayor comes to ask authorities to change their policies?

The mayor is Leen Verbeek of the Dutch city of Purmerend near Amsterdam. He explained: “Costa Rica has good laws and good rules for the protection of nature, but as in many countries, laws and rules are not maintained and really nobody seems to be concerned. As a result, nature in Costa Rica is endangered."

Verbeek is president of the Dutch foundation International Tree Fund. One of the projects of this foundation is the ecological corridor Carara. That corridor, near the mouth of the Río Tarcoles, is designed to provide a north-south connection for animals in Costa Rica.

“In the traditional conception of conservation of nature, you must ensure especially that there are nature parks," said Verbeek. "Nowadays we know that for conservation of types animals and plants most important is that animals do not remain isolated in a park but that they can move from one side to the other and that conservation means making connections between part of the country where nature remains."

The connections are vital to maintain a robust gene pool with genetic diversity.

For this reason the Dutch foundation together with the Costa Rican foundation Arbofilia purchase land in the Carara area near the Gulf of Nicoya to make the north-south connection. The organizations have purchased some 340 hectares (840 acres) of land and with an adjacent corridor the effort has almost repaired the connection, said Verbeek.

In the Carara corridor the foundation is reforesting, but the corridor will not be a traditional nature park.

“It must serve the local population for drinking water and for seeds and should be something just for tourist,” said the Dutch mayor.

Land speculation causes difficulties for purchasing the necessary land for the corridor.

“Land speculators sell the land to Americans," Verbeek said. "They want to create a coffee farm or a teak plantation or just only a house with view on sea.'

The much larger problem, he said, is the construction of the Panama–Guatemala electrical power line. In the plans this power line crosses the Carara corridor and cuts the vital north-south connection for the animals.

The mayor said that it seems that other interest in politics and economy are prevailing above nature.

"This week I will talk with a lot of Costa Rican authorities about this problem,” Verbeek said. “Costa Ricans must change from their traditional concept of conservation of nature and learn to realize the importance of corridors for nature.” 

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