Friday August 24 was held in Costa Rica National Parks Day, and to celebrate, the U.S. National Park System and the National System of Conservation Areas reaffirmed their commitment to keep the national parks better and more accessible. 

Last Friday was National Parks Day in Costa Rica, and to celebrate, the U.S. National Park System and the Costa Rican National System of Conservation Areas reaffirm their commitment to making Costa Rica´s National parks better and more accessible.

Twenty-five percent of Costa Rica’s land is protected, thanks to conservation efforts that have created 28 national parks, including Carara National Park, the northernmost region of Costa Rica’s Pacific rain forest.

Aug. 24 was National Parks Day in Costa Rica, and numerous protected areas celebrated a significant anniversaries. Manuel Antonio National Park, on the central Pacific coast, and Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, in the Tilarán Mountains in north-central Costa Rica, marked their 40th birthdays, while La Amistad International Park, in southern Costa Rica, turned 30.

Costa Rica has 126 protected areas. Of those, 28 are national parks and three have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. These areas encompass 25 percent of the country’s total landmarks.

To commemorate National Parks Day, the United States National Park Service and Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) renewed a memorandum outlining projects within national parks and protected areas. A press release from SINAC said the agreement also includes cooperation in fire management, adaptation to climate change and the development of public educational information on the preservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage.

The history of cooperation between SINAC and the U.S. National Park System dates from the 1960s and ’70s, when two young Costa Rican students – Álvaro Ugalde and Mario Boza – traveled to the U.S. to work and study with the National Park Service.

These partnerships have identified conservation priorities such as the need to protect bird species that migrate each year from the Rockies to Costa Rica.

Costa Developers