Costa Rica won the World Travel Award as Mexico & Central America's Leading travel Destination 2019, the award was presented in a ceremony held in the city of La Paz, Bolivia. The country’s biodiversity and rich nature positioned it as the best destination in the region, the country was picked by a jury of professionals of the tourism sector and representatives of specialized media. The ...

President Carlos Alvarado, alongside the Minister for Environment and Energy, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez and the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, signed into law the reform of the Law for the Integral Management of Waste. This Law enacts the prohibition of the import into national territory, the commercialization and the delivery of polyethylene containers, better known as styrofoam, in any commerci...

University of Costa Rica’s Bernal Rodriguez Herrera, has won the prestigious Aldo Leopold award for his work in the field of conservation of bats and their habitats – the first time a Costa Rican has won this honor in any scientific pursuit. Rodriguez is the Founder and Co-ordinator of the Latin American Bat Conservation Network, and has done much of his vital research at the Biological Reserve Tr...

Four dentistry students of the University of Costa Rica came up with a solution to reduce plastic waste caused by dental saliva ejectors, which are currently discarded after just one use. The students, Nicole Miranda, Maria Francinie Guevara, Yulieth Segura and Catalina Serra created a metallic ejector of surgical level that can be cleaned in the autoclave and used multiple times, eliminating ...

Costa Rican scientists discovered a new species of butterfly native of Guanacaste, the findings were presented during the first meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly Bureau that took place in Norway. Philtronoma Cbdora, its scientific name, has back wings of a shiny pink color, which it hides under its grey front wings the moment it lands over a leaf or tree. “This new species ...

Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park was nominated as candidate to the “Global Refuge Award” (GLORES), an initiative promoted by the Marine Conservation Institute. The Global Ocean Refuge System aims to safeguard marine biodiversity by assembling a strategic network of effective marine protected areas (MPA’s) that includes replicate representation of all marine habitats in each bio-geographi...

Scientists aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor spent three weeks in February, 2019, exploring the depths of the ocean surrounding Isla del Coco National Park. They found good news and bad news. They discovered at least four new species of deep-sea coral – one probably 1,000 years old – and six yet undiscovered ocean animals. They also found on one of their deepest of dives,...

Have you seen a stone sphere since you’ve been in Costa Rica? They can be seen used as lawn ornaments in the yards of important people, or in front of some government office buildings, or at the National Museum in San Jose -- but in 2014 UNESCO declared the “Pre-Columbian Chiefdom Settlements with stone spheres of the Diquis” a World Heritage Site – and that’s a huge deal. A museum was established...

Coffee Britt in Costa Rica kicked off the first stage of its reforestation plan part of its corporate social responsibility commitment; volunteers planted native trees in the Toucan Rescue Ranch situated in Nazareth, Sarapiquí. “Toucan Rescue Ranch, our partner on Hábitat Sloth coffee, has welcomed our volunteers on numerous occasions for projects such as maintenance, painting murals, and refor...

Last year NBC News named cigarette butts as the single greatest source of ocean pollution – far surpassing the recently demonized plastic straws or single use plastic bags. The momentum of banning plastic straws continues to grow with major corporations taking up the fight and gradually phasing out straws completely. However, many experts believe that the focus of ocean pollution and litter should...

Here’s something brilliant that Costa Rica has achieved in the last thirty years: They have doubled their forest cover. Half of Costa Rica’s land surface is now covered with trees. Those trees can absorb a massive amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – and we can all breathe easier for it. Bravo! No one would have predicted this outcome back in 1983 when a meager 26% of Costa Rica had f...

Scientists from the University of Costa Rica (UCR) have announced the reappearance of the Heredia Robber Frog (Craugastor escoces), an amphibian thought to be already extinct. She was rediscovered in Juan Castro Blanco National Park in Alajuela. The frog is brown, with a red belly and striped lips. This amphibian was declared extinct in 2004 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (I...

Saturday was World Tapir Day, a day to celebrate this odd jungle animal, and draw attention to its status as an endangered animal in 2019. Tapirs are the largest mammals in Central America, with four species of “mountain cows”, with Baird’s Tapir being the one found mostly in Central and South America. These tapirs are found in several Costa Rican national parks, but sadly their numbers are dwi...

First Lady of Costa Rica, Claudia Dobles, was named by among the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine, she is the only Latin American in the top 15. “Dobles helped her husband, Carlos Alvarado, win the election in 2018 with a pledge to “decarbonize” Costa Rica by 2050. An architect and urban planner, she’s now in charge of turning that promise into reality—setting deadlines, brokering a...

Costa Rica will be adding its National Park number 29, announced the Minister of Environment and Energy, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez. The new protected area is located in Miravalles, Guanacaste, and it will be named after Jorge Manuel Dengo Obregón (1918-1922), founder of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), Vice-President of Costa Rica (1986-1990) and minister (1982-1986), expert in Natura...

By John McPhaul All the elements of a development of hydrogen energy in Costa Rica to power public transportation, trucks and even part of the electric energy grid have been invented and are proven technologies, now all that is missing is putting the elements together to sizably reduce Costa Rica’s carbon footprint, said Juan del Valle Gamboa, Director of Operations for Ad Astra, the Costa Rica...

Costa Rica has contributed yet another amazing animal to the field of Herpetology – a river anole lizard that can remain underwater for up to sixteen minutes, seemingly by using an air bubble on the top of its head to refresh the air in its lungs. Two scientists were filming anole lizards hurling themselves off of rocks and branches in Coto Brus, when they realized the little guys were staying un...

The Sloth Institute of Costa Rica (TSI) is the headquarters for the cutest animals on the planet. They were founded in 2014 with the mission of “enhancing the welfare of captive and wild sloths through research and education.” They are a non-profit institution based in Manuel Antonio, supported completely by donations. TSI is truly leading the world in sloth research, especially the study of 3-toe...

Costa Rica inaugurated this Saturday, March 30 its biggest solar energy generation park yet, the Cooperative Solar Park (Parque Solar Corporativo), located in the area of Pocosol in San Carlos. This park will benefit close to 5,000 families of the North Zone of the country; it has 19,000 devices to capture solar energy in an extension of 11.2 hectares that will produce 5 MW, guaranteeing the qu...

Kudos to Costa Rica for having finally ended a two-decade squabble with conservationist Captain Paul Watson of the nonprofit conservation organization, the Sea Shepherd. Costa Rica's Criminal Appeals Court of the Second Judicial Circuit of San Jose has ruled in favor of Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, dropping all charges against him, thereby shutting down a ...

A provoked fire that started on Saturday has affected 250 hectares of the Terraba-Sierpe Wetlands in Osa, Puntarenas. Forest of raffia palm, and native Symphonia globulifera tree has been consumed and many animal species have been affected; the strong winds of the past days and the accumulation of vegetation in areas of the wetlands complicated the work of the firefighters. The wetlands are...

The world is on a path to becoming almost insect free, according to the latest study published by the Journal of Biological Conservation, who declared the 2.5 percent rate of insect annual loss as “shocking”. “It is very rapid. In 10 years you will have a quarter less insects, in 50 years you will have half less, and in 100 years you will have none,” said scientist Francisco Sanchez-Bayo, author o...

In a ceremony celebrated this Sunday, February 24, the Government of Costa Rica launched the National Decarbonization Plan 2018-2050, which sets the bases of a green economy to face the challenges of climate change. The activity gathered over 300 national and international personalities, at the sculptures garden of the Costa Rican Art Museum and under the conduction of Christiana Figueres, pr...

After the preventive closure of Poas Volcano National Park this past Monday, visitation to the park has resumed with normality despite the sporadic passive eruptions that it continues to report. The eruptions have been of variable intensity and after the analysis by experts the park remains open to the public with certain restrictions and security measures. “When there is a change in the dir...

Foreigners Detained at Costa Rica International Airport Carrying Spiders, Ants and a Scorpion Two foreigners were detained at the Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica, when they attempted to leave the country with 181 containers containing live ants, spiders and a scorpion. The men of German nationality and last names Goldnik and Ollesch were arrested by Airport Police of the...

A three week expedition off the coast of Costa Rica has just expanded our knowledge of deep sea ecosystems in the region. Led by Dr. Erik Cordes, Temple University, the scientists aboard research vessel Falkor surveyed the continental margin for seamounts and natural gas seeps, where specialized biological communities are found. The seamounts extending from the mainland to the Cocos Islands Nation...

Using live bait and a surf rod US Expat Mike Hughes caught this 5-foot Nurse Shark the morning of Sunday January 27th on the beach in the Esterillos-Bejuco area south of Jaco. More than 100 bystanders witnessed the hour-long battle. "The locals were all amazed that I as able to get it to shore. I do have the biggest surf rod in Costa Rica.I was physically beat and for a while I thought I had an...

Nine out of ten people in the world breath air with contamination levels that are higher than those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), being aware of this problem is what inspired a Costa Rican company to create “Essential Air”, cans of 100% rainforest air from Costa Rica. "WHO estimates that around 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air...

Photo: Archive Poás, Turrialba, and the Rincón de la Vieja volcanoes in Alajuela, Cartago and Guanacaste respectively, continue this 2019 with important activity and constant eruptions. On January 17, 2019, the Rincón de la Vieja presented a moderate phreatic eruption (or perhaps a phreatomagmatic eruption, this is still being determined by the laboratory) at 1:30 a.m. and in the main crater w...

The local government of the county of Talamanca in the Costa Rican Caribbean has officially banned the use of plastic straws in all its districts and communities. Through a press release given by Yorleni Obando, from the Municipality of Talamanca, they certify that this region will be free of plastic straws in order to protect nature and wildlife, this will apply in the tourist areas of Cahuita...

The Minister of Environment, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, appeared in front to the Environmental Commission of the Legislative Assembly today, to respond several questions regarding the damage caused by illegal mining in the area and the economic losses that the extraction of gold represents for the country. In the past, Rodríguez had mentioned that gold panners could have taken as much as $1.5 mi...

The hydro-thermal activity at the Poas Volcano has maintained throughout the last month, and it presented an important eruption the afternoon of this Monday, January 7. These eruptions are considered as normal for this volcano, they occur as the lake dries out leaving behind mud and sediments which cause impulsive expulsions of gas. Poas Volcano National Park reopened its doors to the public...

Costa Rica signed an agreement with the conservationist organization Misión Tiburón (Mission Shark) this 2018 with the objective of consolidating and strengthening the sanctuary of hammerhead shark in the Golfo Dulce in waters of the Pacific. The Ministry of Environment and Energy stated that this type of synergies allow the use of tools and resources that speed up the control and surveillance ...

Harper College Associate Biology Professor Craig Stettner died on Christmas day while on a family vacation in Costa Rica. Stettner had arrived in Costa Rica a few days before he was to lead a Study-Abroad Course for Harper students from January 3-13, doing field research in the Costa Rican Rainforest. Stettner had conducted this very popular course for Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, for the...

An operation carried out in the area of Crucitas in Cutris, San Carlos, (North Zone) by different police bodies such as the Border Police and Migration Police, among others, concluded with the arrest of a group of 7 people. Four of the seven people detained were transferred to the Public Ministry under charges of illegal gold mining. At the site of the arrest, officers found several tools used ...

Students of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) created a natural sunblock that protects marine life, contrary to regular or commercial sunblock that cause whitening of the corals which causes their death and the alteration of the marine ecosystem. Five Pharmacy students, Mariana González, Mauricio Villegas, Catalina Ayón, Kimberly Barrantes and Andrés Solano, came up with a sunblock created ...

Volcanoes in Costa Rica have certainly made headlines this year, the National University's Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute (OVSICORI) offered its annual report on the country’s volcanic activity. “Turrialba Volcano has maintained an open system activity, generating passive emissions of ash as a result of the slow but almost constant raise of a small volume of magma. Out of the 336...

This week Costa Rica accumulated a total of 300 days of 100% renewable energy during  2018. The last time the country had to resort to the use of bunker or diesel was back in May 17 in response to the demand of electricity of the country, which means it has ran for more than seven consecutive months without the use of hydrocarbon fuels. Wind consolidated sa the second source in terms of the ...

In the last five years, scientists in Costa Rica have noticed a marked increase in Black Mantled Howler Monkeys -- who are turning blonde. Howler Monkeys (called Congos in Spanish), comprise 69% of the primate population of the country. Howlers are renowned for their vocalizations made by adult males, which can be heard more than one kilometer away. They are called “mantled” howler monkeys due to ...

This week the Minister ad interim of Environment and Energy, Celeste López, visited the region of Crucitas to follow up on the illegal mining activity taking place in this area. The objective of the visit was to carry out an inspection that contributes to evaluating the situation and the environmental impacts that the illegal extraction of gold has caused. Back on May 9, when Minister of E...