The country�s smallest national park and one of its most popular tourist destinations� is expected to nearly triple in size, thanks to a recent government decree expanding it by 1,100 hectares. Manuel Antonio National Park, a mainstay of most tourist itineraries, will jump from its current 683 hectares to nearly 1,800 hectares, according to the decree signed by Environment Minister Elizabeth Odio.
The activity took place on Nov.17, just over 28 years after the park was created by law on Nov.15, 1972.The park expansion is a measure to counteract nearly three decades of virtually untrammeled tourism-directed growth in the area by creating a protected biological corridor, according to ministry officials.
If we continue to build and build, allowing hotels without proper planning or thought, we are going to have a cement jungle, said Jos� Antonio Salazar, the ministry�s regional director in charge of Manuel Antonio National Park.
Located just outside the central Pacific port town of Quepos, Manuel Antonio boasts a coupling of beaches and wilderness that makes it the most frequently visited tourist attraction in the country, along with the Central Valley�s Po�s Volcano.
Of the roughly 35 percent of tourists who choose to include one of Costa Rica�s famed national parks in their vacation itineraries, 20 percent of this group choose Manuel Antonio. Nearly 150,000 visitors made their way through the park in 1999, bringing in some $545,000 in revenues.
So much human presence has taken its toll on the area�s fragile ecosystem, however. Aside from the obvious damage incurred by too much pedestrian traffic on the handful of trails within the park itself, Salazar blames unregulated construction and deforestation to plant African oil palms for the ecological damage sustained by the park and its environs.
Environmental officials have decided that the remedy is to revive the park by linking it to a corridor of properties on its fringe so that it is not cut off from the surrounding ecosystem, Salazar said.
All of the area to be included consisting of wetlands and maritime property is state-owned and therefore does not need to be expropriated, according to the Environment Ministry.The trails and beaches where tourists currently roam will not be affected by the expansion, Salazar said. The newly included property stretches along 14.5 km of coastline, incorporating the areas known as Playa Rey, Playa Savegre and the mouths of the Savegre and Portal�n rivers.
In addition to being known nesting grounds for various species of sea turtles, these rivers are home to valued wetlands and mangroves, the roots of which provide a habitat for an array of vulnerable marine life. An important ecological function of mangroves is to filter sediment-rich water so that clear water flows into the ocean, thereby nurturing the development of Costa Rica�s famed coral reefs. News of the expansion was applauded by environmental organizations that have concerns about the apparent incompatibility of these environmental treasures with increased development.
Our opinion is that we are completely in favor of the park expansion. Let�s just hope the [newly designated] protected areas will be respected, said Luis Diego Mar�n, president of the wildlife preservation society APREFLOFAS.
Mar�n added that the addition of more property should bring about a proportionate increase in funding to beef up the park�s staff and to purchase boats to patrol the maritime areas. In making this point, however, he pointed out that a major concern is the government�s inability to pay landowners for expropriations that took place nearly three decades ago.
Half of the park�s original 683 hectares are still in the name of the original owners some of which have already reasserted their rights to their land because the government has not paid its debts on seven expropriated properties. As previously reported by The Tico Times in a three-part series titled "Conservation Areas at Risk," the root of the problem lies in a stalemate over administration of a trust fund created two years ago to pay the debt (TT, July 21). The funds, generated from 50 percent of the park�s ticket sales, are locked up in a battle of political wills between the Municipality of Aguirre, where the town of Quepos is located, and the Environment Ministry.
Along with the expansion, the Ministry has also announced that �200 million ($635,000) is now available to pay for the lands, while noting that the debt has nearly doubled since the trust fund was established in 1997. The Environment Ministry continues to blame the "obstructionist attitude of the Municipality of Aguirre" for the delay in payment, according to a recent statement released by the Ministry. The two government bodies are in conflict over which group will have the majority voice over the allocation of the revenues.
As the fight drags on, a proposed law that would designate a new seven-member board of trustees to administer the funds awaits a final vote in the Legislative Assembly.
Municipal representatives have told The Tico Times that the local government should have more control over the money because its role has been neglected for years in the past. Salazar, of the Environment Ministry, thinks the new law might be the only fair solution.
We hope to resolve this through the law. It would be a very formal and democratic way to name the board members, Salazar said.
Salazar called the issues facing Manuel Antonio a "national problem that could have major repercussions" if the properties are not paid for and if the development trend is not halted. Advocating "very limited development," he suggested placing a freeze on new construction permits while the emphasis is refocused on preservation. He included the Environment Ministry among those local and national governmental agencies to blame for the problems, owing mainly to a lack of knowledge and "28 years of poor planning."
Protected Areas 
