Corcovado National Park Rescue Project!

Park rangers fighting hard to protect Corcovado in the most precarious situation! 

 “My wife is pregnant, I will be here for 20 days without any communication, I won’t be able to know if there is an emergency” said Pablo, this young park ranger, who I had never met before, was telling us about the wonderful feeling that it is to be a steward of one of the most important national parks in the world. He worries about his new family, but he loves his job.  I took my 70-year-old mother to meet these young committed guys living in the most precarious conditions. She cried when she heard Pablo’s testimony. As a social worker, my mom is very sensitive to human suffering, but she has also heard it all and she has taken care of people from all walks of life, including sex workers, refugees and the poorest in my country. She was so touched by their effort, their sacrifice, and their commitment. We all were! Forget the Avengers! Park rangers are the real-life heroes fighting to protect the last remnants of low land rain forest in Central America.  

These park rangers are working in Llorona operation center at Corcovado National Park. The park ranger camp was placed there, less than a year ago, to stop all the illegal activities that were happening in the area.   Hunters, gold miners and drug traffickers were taking advantage of the lack of presence of government authorities there. The tent camp is located along a magnificent coastline in the heart of the most luscious rain forest, in the most amazing surroundings anybody could imagine, but also in the most inhospitable conditions. These men need to walk several hours with their supplies and their personal belongings on their back to get to their placement.   There is no cell phone connection, no internet, and no radio reach.   They have water from a natural source -hopefully, no animal has peed in it!-. No boat to take them out if, God forbids, there is a snake bite or any other accident.

When you talk to these guys, you don’t hear complains, you hear excitement and motivation, and the strength in the voices of their commitment to their mission! Their anonymity doesn’t bother them, the fact that most people don’t understand how their personal sacrifice benefits our collective community, doesn’t bother them either. They just care that nobody, no one, will damage, poach or invade this protected area under their watch.

The administrator of Corcovado National Park had contacted us requesting our support. They are only getting 10% of the funding that they need to fully operate the park. The park rangers’ uniforms are made of cotton, a very unsuitable material for these hot and humid conditions. If rained on, they will stay wet all day. If they are on a 3- or 4-days patrols, they will remain wet all that time.   They need $10,000 to place an antenna to be able to get internet in Llorona, they need to fix their out-boat motor, they need radios, uniforms made of synthetic materials, binoculars, good flashlights and more.   As an ally of Corcovado National Park, the Corcovado Foundation, started this GlobalGiving page to collect funding to help Corcovado National Park. Once we have collected some funding, we will pay for some of the equipment and resources that they need and deliver it directly to the park. Also, if you have ideas of companies that might want to sponsor some of these equipment’s or the uniforms, please let us know.

On a side note, On May 11^th, we will carry on a massive beach clean up in Llorona and San Pedrillo, with the support of the Osa Chamber of Tourism. We are lining up boats that will help us carry 70 volunteers to clean these beautiful beaches. Plastic from the ocean washes up at these beaches. We will keep you posted about how much plastic we will collect.