A landmark conciliation agreement was reached this week in the community of Las Brisas, Upala in northern Costa Rica, said Edgar Araya, Broad Front Party (Frente Amplio) Legislator.

A dialogue was held in the Community Hall of Las Brisas, Upala with local residents and representatives of the Las Brisas Agricultural Company to discuss the situation.

“After many years of struggle, resistance and denunciation, we accompany a historic victory,” said Araya, referring to the efforts by community members over years to bring attention to and halt damages to the environment and people’s health from pineapple production.

“For the first time, a community reaches an agreement from a pineapple farm to cease production,” continued Araya.

The agreement stipulates that the pineapple crops will be withdrawn over the next nine months, after which time the company has committed to planting native trees and care for them for at least three years to reforest the damaged lands.

Araya said that because the environmental damages caused by the company were obvious and significant, their legal representatives agreed to a conciliation agreement, which also includes restoring the stream of the Guacalito ravine, and the donation of a vehicle and infrastructure for state institutions in the region.