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Marine Turtle Newsletter 59:12-13, © 1992

Update on Playa Grande, Costa Rica

Jack Frazier
Cinvestav, A.P. 73 "Cordemex", Yucatán, Mexico, C.P. 97310

Mr. André Van Hecke, of the organization HYLA in Belgium, has been conducting a campaign to help save Playa Grande, a beach on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, for the large aggregation of endangered leatherback sea turtles that nest there. Over the past few years he has collected 7,300 signatures of people in favor of protecting the beach, and sent these to the President of Costa Rica. Unfortunately, we have had no news about the hundreds of signatures which were collected during the 10th Annual Sea Turtle Workshop (20-24 February 1990, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina USA) and handed over to Dr. Gabriel Quesada. Mr. Van Hecke has also collected several thousand dollars which he will be using as a "challenge grant" to help raise money to purchase land at Playa Grande. In addition, he has contacted Mr. Reinhard Unglaube of Palm Beach S. A., Costa Rica, the company responsible for the large development project at Playa Grande. It was stated by Unglaube that, "The company Palm Beach S. A., Costa Rica, does not insist on realizing this project. As, however, all roads and the whole water supply are already finished and considerable costs were caused, this authorized project can only be stopped if the protectors of the environment will join and buy the ground and repay all costs. During the latest meeting of the shareholders at the end of October 1991, expenses were listed and they agreed to give up the whole project for a compensation of three million U.S. dollars." Attempts are being made to interest the German developers and investors in adopting a more sympathetic posture.

Recently, Maria Teresa Koberg, Director of Las Baulas de Guanacaste National Park, wrote to Mr. Van Hecke, proposing that the contributions which he had raised be used to pay six month's of salary for a warden in Las Baulas National Park (in addition to costs for administration of the funds). For those interested in further information, the newly formed non-governmental organization "Fundación La Gran Chorotega" (Apartado 189, Santa Cruz, Guanacaste) is involved in raising and administering funds for this new national park.