During a process of development as intense as what is being experienced in Guanacaste, it is extremely important that a concern for the environment enjoys the same level of widespread commitment that already exists regarding the aspects that concern the economy and tourism.
The Natural life of this area does not only provide us with invaluably beautiful landscapes, which, when all is said and done, provided the origin of the tourist and economic booms, but it also provides us with much more healthy surroundings at an environmental level in comparison to the rest of cosmopolitan human settlements.
Our basic necessities such as energy, food and transport, among others, are not a pretext for the alarming imposition of humans onto wild animals which have been residence of local ecosystems for thousands of years and which are a source of unique benefit to the biological cycle according to the specific role each one plays. These creatures are — without exaggeration - indispensable to the continuation of life as we know it, and for the good health of the environment in general.
The topic of the introduction of humans to the beach environments of the northern Pacific is a very broad one and can be analyzed extensively from an economic, cultural or social perspective. This phenomenon principally coincides with the search by people for more spacious and tranquil options when it comes to living a full life. A full life should be the motto that we apply to ourselves, as well as for the other creatures that share this beautiful earth with ourselves.
A regrettable statistic that 1 heard at a wildlife conference and which affected me deeply is the figure that 90% of power cuts in the sector administered by CoopeGuanacaste is due to monkeys that are being electrocuted on the high-tension wires of public electrical installation. As president of UESPRA (Special Unit for Animal Protection and Rescue), 1 have personally participated in rescues in which the only thing that can be done is to remove the body of the animal - dying in some cases or already dead in the majority.
To this, one must also add the deaths caused by vehicles or attacks from our own pets. A figure even more alarming is that primate populations in Costa Rica and Guanacaste have decreased by 50% in the last five years. The pressure of urbanization is one of the important factors in these events. Monkeys are forest inhabitants with the important job of dispersing seeds that give birth to new areas of foliage.
In addition, they also form a fundamental part of the diet of certain important predators such as the jaguar (which is on the road to extinction) and so, they are a fundamental environmental necessity in our ecosystem and one more piece in the delicate balance that maintains life on earth. Their function is of such vital importance that we would begin to notice negative consequences in as little as 10 years if they were no longer present.
The NATURACULTURA foundation, UESPRA, and other organizations of national and international importance, united with local residence, are starting to develop a strategy for the prevention of these terrible accidents. The urgency in the search for a solution to the impact of development carries with it a gravity that obliges us to analyze the problem as much from a scientific perspective as from an educational.
The combination of a wide range of initiatives is necessary, such as bridges, biological corridors, networks of ecological restoration, wildlife rescue centers, among others. This is one of the commitments that we must assume as inhabitants of this planet, in which we coexist with creatures that preceded us and which also represent an environmental heritage and inheritance. They are an indispensable part of our ecosystem and thus, a fundamental part of our own well being.
