The Costa Rican government this week issued a decree creating a new type of park within the framework of the Environment Ministry. Urban Natural Parks have the objective of conserving ecosystems and benefiting the physical and mental health of people living in Costa Rica’s cities.
The National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) will manage the newly formed National Urban Natural Parks Program. Its first steps will be conducting technical studies and leading conversations with communities and private landowners to explore the creation of new protected areas.
“This new management category will allow conservation strategies to be focused on the specific needs of spaces threatened by unplanned urban growth. It is part of the efforts to correct the country’s historical debt to environmental protection in cities,” said President Carlos Alvarado at a ceremony at La Colina de Curridabat Ecological Park.