COSTA RICA NEWS & EVENTS
ENVIRONMENT
PRETOMA.org needs volunteers for the wildlife refuge Caletas-Ario now! Programs from one week until 2 months. Contact Sandra.
4/3 - Hope for the Hammerhead Shark by Randall Arauz - Pretoma.org - Opinion Piece for La Nacion.
3/30 - Find a sponsor and Swim with us on MArch 30th 2013 @ 3pm on the beach in Playas del Coco. Finathon find people who are willing to give you some cash for every 500 meter you swim. Our team will keep track of your distance and you can collect the money which will all be donated to Project Aware. Give Sharks a fighting chance. Email Rich Coast Diving if you want to help out.
3/13 -
Can your next surfboard help save our oceans? Find the answer here.
2/26 -
Bodhi Surf School in Uvita is contributing time and resources to building containers for trash and recycling in their community. Their hope is that the art on the cans, placed in areas where through GIS mapping was shown to have the most litter, will attract the eyes and make one want to recycle. Read more about their project here.
2/21 - PRETOMA has reached their goal of 10,000 signatures to add Hammerhead Sharks to the CITES list as a protected species. Follow this link by Causes.com to help them get to 20,000!
2/13 - Safari Surf School, Costa Rica’s premier surf school and camp for fourteen years, strives to be carbon neutral with the addition of the “Innovative Biodiesel Project” — the world’s first small-scale biodiesel production system that is closed-loop (zero waste), energy independent (off-grid), and carbon-negative. Read more.
2/3 - Up to 280 sea turtles found dead along the coast near Punto Banco. MINAE is investigating the deaths, which may have been caused by offshore trawlers in the area. Read more in CRhoy.com and the Tico Times.
2/3 - From Christina at the Hermosa Surf Inn: Sergio Santana, the executive director for the not for profit Costasverdes, is working to help conserve and restore the biodiversity in the ecosystems along the coast. Together with SINAC-MINAET, businesses and the community, Costasverdes is working in the National Refuge Vida Silvestre in Playa Hermosa. They are currently looking for sponsors for the upcoming tree planting in May. If you would like to be a sponsor or make a donation, visit www.costasverdes.com.
1/21 - The immediate intervention of Incopesca and the destitution of its Board of Directors, is the recommendation of The Front for Our Seas. Read more and see the letter.
12/2 - From Debbie at DominicalSurfLessons.com: Jaco citizens petition the government and get new aquatic rescue center approved. See photos on our Facebook page.
12/2 - United States Suspends BP From New Contracts due to 2010 Horizon Explosion and Spill. Read more in the NY Times.
11/14 - Help protect Hammerhead Sharks~ Sign the petition on Causes.com created by PRETOMA. This will add them to the list protected species offered by international law (CITES II).
10/31 - Arte Viva 2012 was a huge success with hundreds of kids and community member participating in four days of sports, arts, dance, and workshops to improve the lives on the Caribbean Coast. Read their summary and see pics here (Word Document)
10/24 -
Sea turtle tagged with satellite tracking device hooked by illegal long lines in Isla de Coco National Park. More from Pretoma.org
10/12 - Richard Branson was in Costa Rica to join President Laura Chinchilla in signing a ban on the import/export of shark fins in Costa Rica. Read more here.
10/6 - Costa Rican lawmakers on Tuesday night approved a series of amendments to the Wildlife Law, which prohibits hunting for sport in the country. The law allows the hunting of animals only in the case of scientific research, subsistence and species control. The effort was organized by local conservation group Apreflofas.
10/2 - Find out more about a planned Mega-Marina Project in Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica. Read more.
9/14 -
Hotel Byblos in Costa Rica hosted a "Kids Saving the Rainforest" fundraiser to support the only local government sanctioned wild animal rescue center near Manuel Antonio National Park. They are very happy to say that they raised $4511 at the fundraiser to save the Rescue Center! Details here.
9/14 - Tropical Adventures has a new program, Vecinos del Mundo, meaning "Neighbors of theWorld" whose mission is to bring cultures and people together in the community of Hojancha, Costa Rica in a collaborative effort to increase cross-cultural understanding with an emphasis in community development, education, culture and conservation.
9/4 - Safari Surf donated $500 to the Kickstarter campaign for a new Recycling Center in Nosara!! Our community rallied around this project put together by Tobias Holler and his students at NYIT. The new recycling center will be a huge improvement for our area and contribute to Nosara's continued sustainable growth. The NYIT students arrived in June and worked on the project through the end of August. Follow their blog to see the progression of this community development initiative.
SurfCredits partners with the surf industry to offer exclusive discounts on merchandise, trips and more! SurfCredits launched successfully last month during the Volcom Fiji Pro and Safari Surf School in Nosara is stoked to be an early supporter of this innovative surf-philanthropy nonprofit. Read more.
8/23 -
The Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program - CST - is a product of the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT). The CST was designed to differentiate businesses of the tourism sector, based on the degree to which they comply with a sustainable model of natural, cultural and social resource management. Is YOUR business ready to earn this certificate? Read more.
8/19 - President Chinchilla has a 'blue agenda' for reforming how Costa Rica manages its marine resources, but will she follow through with it? Read more in the Tico Times.
8/10 - SurfCredits partners with the surf industry to offer exclusive discounts on merchandise, trips and more! SurfCredits launched successfully last month during the Volcom Fiji Pro and Safari Surf School in Nosara is stoked to be an early supporter of this innovative surf-philanthropy nonprofit. Read more.
7/29 - Presidential Commission recommends total reform of Costa Rica´s Fisheries Institute. Read their solutions.
7/28 - New petition delivered to President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica against shark fin imports. Read more.
7/21 - "2.5%" is a documentary short focused on protecting the Osa Peninsula. Our message is clear, this is a region that should be developed responsibly and in line with the environment. Help fund this movie by donating here - LINK
7/15 - Male green turtle travels from Cocos Island, Costa Rica, to Las Perlas, Panama - read more from Pretoma
7/6 - Las Bordadoras - Sustainable Embroidery by Women in Costa Rica by Maria del Mar
7/6 - The executive president of the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute (Incopesca), Luis Dobles, is under scrutiny from the Prosecutor’s Office in Puntarenas for possible dereliction of duty. Read more in the Tico Times
6/29 - Losing the Leatherback - a report from the Tico Times
6/15 - CR Surf Travel Company donates to Save the Waves. Overall they raised over $60,000 to help protect surf breaks around the world. Read more.
YOU CAN HELP in 3 ways~
1.Check out the Kickstarter program for expanding the recycling center in Nosara, organized by the Nosara Recycling Association.
2. Since 2010 Pretoma is working on a hawksbill sea turtle tagging program in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Now you can help PRETOMA by adopting your own sea turtle! Read more.
3.
Marc DiMaggio, a school teacher from California, announced he’ll be at it again this summer, riding coast to coast this time to raise awareness and support for his Spinning to End (shark) Finning campaign. Read more from ARCAE.
6/1 - PRETOMA is following through with their lawsuit for slack oversight by INCOPECSA, who manages the local fisheries. They are still allowing shrimp trawlers to go out without TED's (turtle exclusion devices). Read more.
6/1 - After a successful surf event that brought out members of the surf community to help the less fortunate children of the Guanacaste area, Waves Costa Rica under the spearhead of owner Andrea Diaz, is partnering with CEPIA to create an organization that will develop young surf talent for the Circuito Nacional de Surf. Read more.
5/24 - Paul Watson of the group Sea Shepard will head to Costa Rica to face charges, and then help the government improve the protection of marine resources. Read more in the Tico Times here - LINK.
5/17 - Read PRETOMA.org's letter sent in to La Nacion showcasing how shrimping is leading to the extinction of other marine life - LINK.
4/26 - On Saturday April 21, the Nosara Recycling Association organized the event with over 100 volunteers that removed nearly 1,000 bags of garbage (which had been thrown around the landfill over the past 5 years), collected recyclables, planted trees and bushes in decorated tires, and posted signs to encourage people not to litter. Check out the Kickstarter program for expanding the recycling center.
4/20 - Marc DiMaggio, a school teacher from California, announced he’ll be at it again this summer, riding coast to coast this time to raise awareness and support for his Spinning to End (shark) Finning campaign. Read more from ARCAE.
4/12 - The lifeguard program at Playa Cocles is struggling to stay afloat and need assistance from the surf travel community. Visit www.cocles.org to see how to help.
4/12 - Environment Ministry Announces Tough Measures Against Polluters Of Rivers. Read more.
3/29 - PRETOMA's Sustainable Fishing / Tourism Project in Guanacaste. Read more about how artisanal fisherman are partnering with local restaurants to improve the local economy.
3/22 - The group Pretoma has just put out their newsletter in English. Read it here - LINK.
3/2 - Satellite study disclosed danger zones for leatherback turtles. From the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science article LINK.
2/15 - From the Voice of Nosara: Friends of Nosara Celebrates Partner Achievements at Annual Meeting. More than $107,000 received in 2011. Visit their website to find out their next events.
2/1 - Project Seeks Funds for Guaitil School Computer Lab - Find out more.
1/12 - Thanks to all those who contributed to help pay for an A.E.D. device in Dominical. We did not reach our goal in 2011 and so we rounded up the total of donations to $100 and gave that to the lifeguard program to help pay for salaries and equipment. If you read the top news below, their lifeguard program is about to close due to lack of funds.
In 2012, CR Surf Travel Company will continue our goal of supporting the lifeguard programs on both coasts and getting A.E.D. devices and training provided for them. Email if you want to help.
Help put up bridges for monkeys in Manuel Antonio. Call 2777-2592 or e-mail info@kidssavingtherainforest.org.
Latin American Surf Tour's - Seven Ways to Help the Planet (in Spanish)
Recycling locations on the southern Pacific coast, set up by the Nature Conservancy.
Count how much water you use HERE
** How about some winter reading for the kids?? Check out All the Way to the Ocean, a book that teaches kids not to litter, because eventually it will end up in the sea and hurt marine life.
