Proposal for New National Park

     This article is the last one in a series of twelve monthly installments in the Tamarindo News about the national parks of Costa Rica. The country is currently blessed with twenty-six national parks, thanks mostly to the foresight of the government. I thought it would be a good idea for this final article to about the proposal for a new park, the twenty-seventh, Maquenque National Park. Located in the provinces of Heredia and Alajuela and covering more than 1.3 million hectares, Maquenque would become a part of the Arenal Huetar Norte Conservation Area. It would unify various existing nature preserves, wildlife refuges and forest preserves grouped between the San Carlos and Sarapiqui Rivers and extending north to the Nicaragua border, and would include the Cerro el Jardin and Curena Forest Preserves as well as the Lacustrino de Tamborcito and Laguna Maquenque Wetlands.

     One important reason to include this immense parcel of land in the National Parks Program is because it is the only parkland region to contain almond trees, a natural food source for the Green Macaw. For this reason alone, the World Parrot Trust is currently campaigning in favor of sanctioning this land as a national park. Other endangered species that use the area as a natural habitat include the jaguar, the manatee, and the regional species of the freshwater Gaspar Fish. The area is teeming with life. In all, there have been sightings of more than one hundred forty different mammals, one hundred thirty five reptiles, nearly one hundred different amphibians and more than four hundred different birds. Because this stretch of land is part of what is referred to as the Mesoamerica Biological Corridor, it is important to preserve it to maintain and maximize sustainable natural forestry, which is the starting block for the entire life chain that includes the impressive list of plants and animals who call this area home. Another reason for proclaiming this area a national park is that it would then receive more funding and attention to its preservation.

     Park rangers are currently offering guided hikes and canoe trips of the San Carlos River. There is also a butterfly garden currently in development.

     National Parks in Costa Rica protect more than one quarter of the total area of the country in order to maintain and protect the fragile biodiversity that exists here: in the sea, the beaches, the wetlands, mountains, volcanoes, and the list goes on. The amount of life and its widespread diversity here is stunning. For environmental and biological reasons alone, there is no argument against creating more protected land. And the reality of tourism being a huge economic staple here reinforces this need. Not many people go on vacation to see a banana plantation or to witness cattle grazing.