Development in Tamarindo put on Hold

A judicial resolution establishing some protective measures for the endangered leatherback turtles paralyzed the urban development in Tamarindo, Guanacaste.

Through vote 18529-08, the constitutional court recently suspended the construction permits in the so-called “buffer zones” of Las Baulas Marine National Park, the main concentration site of this endangered marine species.

The decision of the Sala IV forbids the grant of new construction permits, as well as the demolition, and remodeling permits for existing buildings while the study of the environmental impact of urban development in the region is completed.

The judges sent this report to SETENA, AyA, and the municipalities of Santa Cruz, Nandayure, Hojancha, Nicoya, and Carrillo.

These entities have six months to carry out “a thorough study on the impact that these construction projects and the urban and tourist development in the park’s buffer zone will have on the environment.” If that is the case, they could recommend the expropriation of the lands located within this area.

According to the Sala IV, the study must reveal what the impact does (noise, lights, sewage and served waters, and humans) have on the local ecosystem, especially on the leatherbacks.

The leatherback turtle is the biggest chelonian in the world and one of the most endangered species due to factors that have not really been completely figured out, but that could be related to the practice of irregular fishery. Out of the about 1500 turtles that nested in Playa Grande, Costa Rica by the end of the 1980’s, only few dozen arrive these days. The same situation happens in many other historic nesting sites in Latin America.

This territory is a 500-meter land strip neighboring all the land boundaries of the park.

According to Fernando Cruz, the judge who wrote the vote, the Sala IV “is not overstepping the mark” when prohibiting all the constructions in the buffer area until the completion of the technical study. He stated that the expropriations are not an order of the Sala IV, and that they will only take place as a last resort if it is so recommended by the pending technical study.