2007 - 2008 Adopt an Acre^® Conservation Site
Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula

Lands of Life
An Invitation to Protect the Osa

Dear Friends:
We are delighted to extend this invitation for you to join us in preserving one of the greatest reservoirs of biodiversity on Earth—the Osa. Nowhere else on the planet does such a small area—about 400,000 acres—
contain so many distinct tropical ecosystems. Located in southwest Costa Rica, the Osa region is a key
component of the Mesoamerican forests and the Eastern Pacific seascape, two of the world’s top 25 diversity
hotspots. As such, it is critical to preserving the biodiversity of the entire Western Hemisphere.

The global importance of this unique region, which faces ever-increasing threats, has led Conservation
International, The Nature Conservancy, the Costa Rica-USA Foundation, and the Government of Costa Rica
to come together in the Osa Campaign, an equally unique conservation and fundraising effort. The
Campaign will conserve the biodiversity of the Osa for future generations by strengthening national parks,
creating biological corridors between them, and involving local communities in conservation efforts both
on land and sea. For nearly three decades, Costa Rica has been a leader in biodiversity conservation.
Through the joint efforts of the government, local and global conservation organizations, and private citizens,
Costa Rica has protected a greater proportion of its biodiversity heritage than any other country.

Despite considerable progress over the last 30 years, much work remains to truly conserve this precious
resource. We believe this unprecedented partnership will build on the conservation successes of the past
and expand them even further, while ensuring that they will endure. We invite you to join us in meeting the
challenges of saving the Osa’s natural treasures.
Sincerely,

Luis Diego Escalante President The CR-USA Foundation for Cooperation	Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Minister of Environment and Energy Government of Costa Rica
Steven J.McCormick President and CEO The Nature Conservancy	Peter Seligman Chairman of the Board and CEO Conservation International

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Overview

In the early 1970s, a group of tropical biologists working on the Osa Peninsula waged a campaign to create a national park to protect what they realized was a place of global importance. With swift action by the Costa Rican National Park Service and help from The Nature Conservancy and other conservation groups, Corcovado National Park was created in 1975. Now encompassing one-third of the peninsula, Corcovado is the crown jewel in Costa Rica’s park system. However, scarce resources have created significant management challenges for the park, and the park’s few rangers are unable to curb illegal activities such as poaching, mining and illegal fishing.

Across the gulf from Corcovado, conservationists later targeted a second expanse of prime lowland rainforest on the mainland. If protected, this tract would complement the forests already conserved on the peninsula and provide additional habitat for wildlife. In 1991, the Costa Rican government established Piedras Blancas National Park with the hope of eventually connecting it with Corcovado to create a contiguous wilderness to ensure the preservation
of biodiversity. But today almost half the lands within the park remain in private hands, still awaiting purchase by the government. Meanwhile, to the north, the Térraba-Sierpe national wetland was declared in 1994 to protect the largest mangrove forest on the Pacific coast of Central America.

The lands between these three “anchors,” called the Osa Biological Corridor, represent the critical connection that holds the key to the Osa’s future. Only with a secure linkage can the present levels of biodiversity—including large mammals such as jaguar, puma, peccaries and tapir—survive, as growing geographic isolation limits genetic exchanges among different populations. Almost all of the land in the Corridor is in private hands, and many landholders rely on its natural resources for their livelihoods. Without taking into consideration the needs of these families and individuals, conservation success will not be sustainable.

Biologists are also discovering that the Osa’s ocean environments are as unique and valuable as those on land, and conservationists are working to ensure that they are quickly and sufficiently protected. While land-based conservation efforts have been under way for a quarter of a century, relatively little attention has been paid to protecting marine resources. Meanwhile, rapid tourism development and escalating pressure on marine populations by both commercial and sport fishing fleets is seriously threatening the ecological balance of the Golfo Dulce and the seas around the Osa.

Located in the southwestern corner of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, the Osa’s forested peninsula curves sharply from the mainland, surrounding the deep waters of Golfo Dulce. Maps by Technical Coalition of the Osa Biological Corridor

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Tropical Conservation Innovation

Costa Rica is recognized throughout the world as an innovator in tropical conservation: pioneering the development of debt-for-nature swaps and the sale of carbon bonds to fund conservation efforts, creating bi-national “peace parks,” prospecting for economic uses for biological resources, and decentralizing parks management to promote community involvement. A strong conservation ethic has arisen among the citizenry and their elected leaders.

Costa Rica also has a long history of promoting private conservation. It hosts the world-famous private Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and many smaller reserves that help make ecotourism a leading source of income. This success in turn motivates more landowners to explore the economic potential of conservation.

The first conservation easement and the first land trust in Latin America were created in Costa Rica in 1992. The government promotes private conservation by paying landowners a fee for the environmental services that their forests provide to society, paid for through a tax on gasoline. Costa Rica is also a leading center for tropical biology research and education, housing such institutions as the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) and the Organization for Tropical Studies. In short, this tiny country, smaller than the state of West Virginia, impacts conservation theory and practice throughout the world.

The Osa Campaign is yet another innovation. For the first time, two of the world’s leading conservation organizations have joined together with the Costa Rican government and local environmental groups in a major public-private fundraising initiative. Not only will the Campaign raise funds from U.S. and other international donors, but from people and businesses in Costa Rica as well—a milestone in environmental philanthropy in the developing world.

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Biological Significance

What’s at Stake
The Osa—less than half the size of Rhode Island— harbors a diversity of habitats and richness of species unheard of elsewhere for an area of this size. Corcovado National Park alone contains at least 13 major ecosystems, including lowland forests, cloud forests, mangrove and freshwater swamps, lagoons, beaches, and coral reefs. The forests of the Osa are home to between 4,000 and 5,000 species of vascular plants, including more than 700 species of trees, many of which are endangered. Biologists estimate that between 2 to 3 percent of the flora of the Osa exists nowhere else on Earth. One study found the forest to be in natural balance, with no single species of plant or tree dominating any other—a clear sign of a robust and healthy ecosystem.

The animal life of the peninsula is as varied and abundant as its flora. The forests of the Osa host a wealth of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects— many found nowhere else in Central America. The Osa is home to more than 375 species of birds (of which 18 are endemic), 124 species of mammals, 40 species of freshwater fish, approximately 8,000 species of insects, and 117 species of reptiles and amphibians. The species recorded in the Osa represent up to 50 percent of the species known to exist in Costa Rica. The Osa contains Costa Rica’s largest
population of the endangered scarlet macaw, as well as Central America’s largest population of squirrel monkeys.

Large cats such as jaguar, puma and ocelots survive here, and the protected terrain of Corcovado National Park is also a critical stronghold for other wide-ranging mammals such as tapir and whitelipped peccaries. Peccaries have all but disappeared from the rest of the country’s Pacific coast, but packs of up to 80 animals still move through the forest of Corcovado, serving as the jaguar’s primary prey.

The Osa Peninsula is also surrounded by major aquatic and marine resources. The Terraba-Sierpe Wetland, to the north of the peninsula, contains the largest mangrove forest on the Pacific coast of Central America, and has been designated under the Ramsar Convention as a site of global significance for the protection of aquatic birds. The Golfo Dulce, to the east, is one of only four fjords in the tropics worldwide, and though little studied, its great depth and still waters harbor marine environments unknown elsewhere in the region. The waters to the west of the Peninsula—where 25 species of dolphins and whales have been spotted—are prime habitat for large numbers of marine mammals. Impressive coral reefs fringe Corcovado National Park and the Isla del Caño—one of few places
remaining where pristine tropical forest and coral reefs exist just meters apart. In addition, the beaches of the Osa Peninsula are important nesting sites for four of the world’s seven species of endangered sea turtles.

Although the land and seascapes of the Osa are still pristine, they are not immune to outside pressures. While the region’s inaccessibility spared it from human impact for many years, activities such as poaching, fishing, logging, and unsustainable agriculture and unplanned development today threaten its natural integrity.

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Campaign Results and Activities
The Campaign is made up of four goals with a total funding need of $32.5 million

CAMPAIGN GOAL 1
Protect biodiversity in the Osa’s parks, wild-life refuges, wetlands, and forest reserves by improved management practices.

The work of creating public protected areas—the core of efforts to protect biodiversity in the Osa— while under way for over 30 years, is not yet finished. A mosaic that includes two national parks, wildlife refuges, protected wetlands, and a forest reserve, over 400,000 acres in all, has been established by law. However, these areas and the biodiversity that they contain still face a formidable array of threats.

For example, Corcovado National Park is besieged by poachers, to the point where the survival of several species—including the jaguar—is in doubt. Scientists have documented frightening declines in populations of key species. The population of chancho de monte (white-lipped peccary) has decreased from 2,000 in the early 1990s to about 400 today, while the number of jaguars has plummeted from 150 to only 30.

Although Piedras Blancas National Park was created in 1991, roughly half its lands remain in private hands. Much of the land within the park’s boundaries is used in ways that are incompatible with conservation goals including poaching, deforestation, and unsustainable agricultural activities. While Costa Rican law requires that all private lands within the park be purchased, the government and its conservation allies have only been able to purchase
half.

Inadequate resources and inefficient administrative structures also hinder proper management of the parks and public lands. None of the protected areas have up-to-date plans to guide natural resource management and protection decisions. The park staff lack adequate personnel, equipment and training. Public funding for the parks fluctuates widely from year-to-year, making effective planning and management a challenge at best.

The Campaign will provide assistance to the Ministry of the Environment (MINAE) to help ensure the survival of the Osa’s biodiversity on public lands. The support provided by the Campaign is designed to supplement, rather than replace, public resources devoted to conservation in the Osa. Funds raised will be used to:

• Complete the establishment of the Piedras Blancas National Park by purchasing 5,000 hectares and transferring the lands to the government.
  
• Create management plans for Piedras Blancas National Park/Golfito Wildlife Refuge, Corcovado National Park/ Isla del Caño Biological Reserve, the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve, Marino Ballena National Park, and the Terraba-Sierpe National Wetland.
• In conjunction with internationally recognized research institutes, design and establish a biological research and monitoring program to support natural resource management decisions.
• Build new ranger stations and hire and equip park rangers to immediately improve control and enforcement measures against illegal hunting and fishing.
• Train and equip a corps of community volunteers (COVIRENAS) to assist park rangers in monitoring illegal activities.
• Create a $10 million permanent endowment (Public Protected Areas Endowment Fund) to provide annual, supplemental funding for park management.
• Provide management training to park administrative staff.
  

GOAL $19 MILLION

CAMPAIGN GOAL 2
Connect key natural areas through the “Osa Biological Corridor” between Corcovado and Piedras Blancas National Parks and the Terraba-Sierpe National Wetland.

Even with adequate funding and improved management, the public protected areas of the Osa are too small and isolated to maintain their present high levels of biodiversity for very long.

Ensuring that there is a functioning biological corridor—a connecting land bridge where wildlife can roam and genetic exchanges among populations can continue—is fundamental to preserving the region’s biodiversity. However, it is in the Corridor where the most significant and daunting threats to the Osa’s ecological resources exist.

The threats include poaching, deforestation, development, and destructive agricultural practices. Unclear ownership rights and land tenure conflicts with the government thwart both conservation efforts and economic development, and prevailing attitudes hold that natural resources should be exploited for greatest short-term benefit. All but a
small portion of this 85,000-hectare area is in private hands and is populated with several small but well-established communities. Because of this the economic and social costs of purchasing these lands to include them in the parks are too high for the government and its conservation allies to meet. New ideas and strategies are needed to stop the loss of forests and animals while helping meet the needs of the people who live in the Osa. Accordingly, funds raised by the Campaign will support the work of local groups to:

• Create a comprehensive land use plan for the Corridor, which takes into consideration the needs of the many stakeholders, including farmers, businesses and communities.
• Protect or regenerate forest on at least 15,000 hectares of priority lands through private conservation
  strategies, including land acquisition, establishing conservation easements, and innovative strategies such as payments for environmental services.
• Create a control and protection program jointly undertaken by park rangers and volunteers from local communities (COVIRENAS).
• Promote sustainable agriculture and microenterprise projects compatible with the conservation goals of the Corridor.
• Undertake scientific research and monitoring to ensure that conservation activities are well-targeted
  and effective.

GOAL $10.53 MILLION

CAMPAIGN GOAL 3
Establish a comprehensive protection program for marine and coastal resources in the Osa.

The marine environment of the Osa presently receives very little protection from destructive commercial fishing practices and coastal development, both quickly-growing threats to marine life and its habitats. While a few marine protected areas exist in the Osa, like their land-based counterparts, they are too small and receive inadequate protection to be effective for long-term conservation success.

Because commercial fishing takes place in the open ocean, it is very difficult to regulate and control. A shortage of personnel, training and patrol boats means illegal activity can flourish. Furthermore, official responsibilities for controlling illegal fishing are spread among several agencies that must cooperate if efforts to curb this activity are to
be successful.

As the natural charm of the area is discovered and promoted around the globe, coastal development is rapidly rising to meet the needs of ever-increasing numbers of tourists. While most coastal development in the Osa has been small-scale and environmentally benign (and often very helpful, as eco-lodges establish nature reserves, create jobs and raise awareness), the cumulative effect of many small developments is beginning to have an impact, exacerbated by a lack of planning. And initiatives to build much larger projects with proportionately higher environmental impacts will soon be under way. Effective planning of coastal development to reduce environmental impacts of development and the application of existing restrictions must begin today.

Increasing the protection of fisheries and controlling coastal development are both goals that will require a great increase in cooperation and formidable coordination between the public and private sectors. Funds from the Campaign will support the first comprehensive, inter-agency approach to marine conservation, specifically to:

• Study the feasibility of, and legal and technical requirements for, establishing new marine protected
  areas, (i.e. Golfo Dulce or Isla de Caño- Marino Ballena Corridor) and expanding exsiting ones.
• Create the first integrated management plan for marine and coastal resources in the Osa.
• Design a comprehensive inter-institutional control and protection strategy.
• Establish an ecological baseline for the region, including evaluation of populations of commercial
  and other key marine species.
• Implement an ongoing monitoring program to assess the status of populations and inform management
  decisions.
  

GOAL: $ 1.975 MILLION

CAMPAIGN GOAL 4
Build local capacity to sustain conservation success.

The Osa Campaign is an intense international effort that will attract sizable resources for conservation. However, to achieve lasting results, the Campaign must ensure that the people of the Osa embrace the idea of conserving their lands and marine environments, support the development of local leaders, and help local organizations create the capacity to develop and successfully implement projects and activities.

This will take time. Attitudes and livelihoods developed over many generations are not changed overnight. And while several local organizations working in the Osa have a great deal of expertise and proven ability to implement projects, others have only recently been established. There are many important stakeholders whose different interests and priorities must be reconciled in planning and executing conservation activities. This is particularly
true in the Osa Biological Corridor, where any effort requires the voluntary cooperation of residents and landholders. While building widespread allegiance to common conservation goals will take much time and effort, it is essential to the Campaign’s success.

A coalition of local conservation organizations (the Technical Coalition of the Osa Biological Corridor) has been working in the Osa since 2000, and the Campaign’s founding partners are prepared to devote the time and resources necessary to forge true local capacity where solutions are welcomed and eventually undertaken by the residents of the Osa.

Specifically, the Campaign will raise funds to:

• Promote inter-institutional coordination and strengthen existing coalitions and partnerships to develop a common vision for conserving the Osa.
• Strengthen grassroots organizations in the Osa by providing training and technical assistance.
• Foster the emergence of local leaders through training, internships, scholarships and exchanges.
• Strengthen the technical capability and institutional capacity of Costa Rican conservation organizations working in the Osa.
• Provide environmental education in local schools.
• Create youth conservation organizations in the Osa’s communities.
• Involve local businesses, such as ecolodges and tour companies, directly in supporting conservation
  activities in the Osa.
  

GOAL: $995,000

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A Cooperative Model for Conservation

The Osa Campaign is a public-private international partnership of four institutions committed to a common goal.

Conservation International (CI). Conservation International is a U.S.-based, international nonprofit organization. Its mission is to conserve the Earth’s living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. CI applies innovations in science, economics, policy and
community participation to protect the Earth’s richest regions of plant and animal diversity in the hotspots, major tropical wilderness areas and key marine ecosystems.

Costa Rican Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE). Through its decentralized National System of Conservation Areas, MINAE is the governmental agency responsible for the management of Costa Rica’s national parks and other protected areas. In Osa, MINAE works through its representatives in the Osa Conservation Area
(ACOSA). MINAE is also responsible for the implementation and enforcement of many of the nation’s environmental laws, including hunting and forestry regulations, and evaluation of the environmental impacts of new development.

Costa Rica—USA Foundation (CRUSA). CR-USA was founded in 1996, by an agreement between the governments of Costa Rica and the United States, as a private, nonprofit foundation, to promote ties between the two countries through support for sustainable development in Costa Rica. Its bi-national governing boards give priority to grant-making for the environment, education, science and technology, and competitive development. From its beginning, CR-USA has supported conservation projects and has made a $3 million challenge grant to the Osa Campaign.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC). The Nature Conservancy is an international, nonprofit membership organization founded in 1951. Its mission is to protect the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity
of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Working through a network of partners
in 28 countries, the Conservancy’s non-confrontational, businesslike approach has enabled it to protect more than 117 million acres around the world. The Nature Conservancy has a long history in the Osa area and in 1975, helped create the 100,000- acre Corcovado National Park.

Local Partners
The Local Commission of the Osa Biological Corridor, composed of representatives of local communities in the Corridor and many of the Osa’s grassroots organizations, informs the Campaign and its other partners as to the needs and ideas of the Corridor’s residents. The Local Commission is therefore key to developing highly responsive and effective conservation programs based on good information, many of which will be implemented by Commission
members themselves. Increasing the capacity of the Commission and its members to develop and implement projects is a very high priority for the Campaign.

Since it began, the Campaign has worked closely with an existing coalition of national and local conservation organizations called the Technical Coalition for the Osa Biological Corridor. Comprised of five well-established Costa Rican conservation groups working in the Osa, the Coalition represents an outstanding technical resource to help plan and implement Campaign objectives in the field. The members of the Coalition have highly complementary
capabilities and have cooperated extensively amongst themselves, with the Local Commission, with ACOSA, and others in developing and implementing conservation initiatives in the Osa. Indeed, the Coalition was instrumental in creating the Corridor’s Local Commission and has provided the Commission with both financial and technical support.

COVIRENAS. Costa Rica’s Wildlife Law, enacted in 1992, created a program called COVIRENAS (Natural Resources Vigilance Committees). These volunteers from local communities are trained to help park staff and police protect the area’s ecosystems. There are presently 65 such volunteers working in eight communities in the Osa. They monitor and report violations of hunting laws and also participate in education and research activities in the Corridor. Though small in scale, this voluntary program led by community members is the type of approach that can have a significant long-term impact. COVIRENAS volunteers were instrumental players in a campaign that significantly reduced logging in the Osa between 1998 and 2002. Moreover, as an organized and highly motivated and committed group, COVIRENAS can assist conservation efforts in a number of other ways, such as assisting scientists in research and monitoring activities, ensuring compliance of landowners with easements, and organizing environmental awareness campaigns.

Residents of the Osa have also been recruited to assist in the Campaign’s fundraising efforts. Many lodge owners and local residents in the Osa have joined together to form Women of the Osa, which is committed to raising funds from visitors in support of the Campaign. In the southern part of the Peninsula, a group of landowners has formed Friends of the Osa, an organization created to manage their lands as a private wildlife refuge as well as help raise
funds for the Campaign.

Also, the Campaign has formed a National Campaign Committee in Costa Rica comprised of prominent local leaders in business, society and civic organizations that gives a public face to the Campaign in Costa Rica and is responsible for raising a portion of the Campaign goal.

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How The Nature Conservancy Works in the Osa Peninsula

With the Costa Rican government and a strong network of partners, The Nature Conservancy is working to protect and maintain the Osa Peninsula's forests and coastal areas. We are doing this in a variety of ways, such as:

• Acquiring and protecting land
• Strengthening the management of protected areas
• Hiring and training park staff
• Creating a 100,000 acre biological corridor between Corcovado and Piedras Blancas National Parks
• Partnering in a campaign to raise $32.5 million towards conserving the Osa.