Luis Guillermo Solís, ex-president of Costa Rica, said that November 3th is declared as the National Day of Biosphere Reserves, recognising the determining role of territories that conserve biodiversity and the use of natural resources.
The decree was signed in San Gerardo de Dota (Savegre area) by Luis Guillermo Solis and the minister of the environment. This decree also includes explicit provisions that establish an organizational structure for managing all areas involved in the program, places that fall into the family, environmental organizations, productive sectors, and other participants.
“Biosphere Reserves play a crucial role in generating opportunities for productive development, biodiversity sustainability, water resources and the adaptation of communities to climate change, so it is important that we organize our efforts and work for Improve its management through possible alliances between different local sectors and international sectors, “
President Luis Guillermo Solis.
The areas contribute to the international category of conservation established by UNESCO, which considers the people and their community a fundamental element of the country’s sustainable development.
Costa Rica has four biosphere reserves; La Amistad – Talamanca, the central volcanic mountain range, Agua y Paz, and Savegre, which was recently designated.
From now on, communities are organized to create local committees for the Biosphere Reserve; together with the national committee on humans and the Biosphere, and a person assigned by the Ministry of the Environment Committee, will manage the resources properly..
- La Amistad-Talamanca Biosphere Reserve – was designated by UNESCO in 1983 and covered 612,750 hectares. These areas are inhabited by four different Indian tribes and include rainforests and cloud forests.
- The Central Volcanic Cordillera – a biosphere reserve since 1988 – comprises 650,918 hectares, including Braulio Carrillo National Park, Irazu Volcano and Turrialba Volcano.
- Agua y Paz – includes 916,119 hectares including the Juan Castro Blanco National Park, Caño Negro Refuge, four biological corridors and the indigenous community Maleku.
- Savegre River – named on June 14, covers 312,914 hectares including four counties: Dota, Tarrazu, Perez Zeledon, and Aguirre; Seven protected wildlife areas and three biological corridors.