The Osa Peninsula - Cost Rica's last chance!!

The Osa Peninsula has been well document by the National Geographic Channel and the Discovery channel as well as the crazy animal men like Steve Erwin, etc. The Osa Peninsula is situated on the Pacific side of the south west of Costa Rica. It is a land mass that comes back on itself to offer 6% of the worlds bio diversity in a area the size of London.

In 1975 the Costa Rican government with an assisted land acquisition of 86,485 acres, the Conservancy helped the Costa Rican government create the more than 100,000-acre Corcovado National Park. The area of the Osa is home to a rich array of fauna including jaguars, the Central American squirrel monkey, the Baird's tapir and three species of sea turtles (olive ridley, Pacific green, and leatherback). More than 375 bird species are found on the Osa Peninsula which is great for bird watchers. One of the most popular and threatened is the country's largest population of the threatened scarlet macaw. Osa is also home to the harpy eagle and the yellow-billed cotinga.

Outside of the National Park however is where the trouble is brewing as less than 10 percent of the Osa is owned with titles. This means that people are using it for logging and agriculture at an alarming rate. The Gold that is found in the rivers and the people that mine for it have created river pollution among many things.

The newly planned Osa Peninsula airport that will bring tourism to the area has also increased the demand for land and the future development of projects in the area. If the airport is built what effect will this have on the long term development in the area.

One land developer stated that they will destroy the Osa Peninsula as they have developed a lot of Costa Rica however we hope that the Costa Rica Government one day will wake up and smell the coffee as it takes 5 seconds to destroy but a life time to rebuild. Once the animals have gone the animals have gone.

 

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This article was written by Richard Bexon a specialist Consultant for Holidays in Costa Rica.

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