Corcovado National Park Rescue Project!

There are unique places on the earth of such mesmerizing wonder and beauty that they literally defy description. They must be experienced, explored, and studied to be fully understood and appreciated. They must also be relentlessly protected. 

Corcovado National Park on Costa Rica’s spectacular Osa Peninsula is one of those places.  It’s a tropical oasis of incredibly intense biodiversity, harboring 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity in just 1/1000 of the planet’s landmass.  And every year, more species of s are found.

The park’s jungles, rivers, and surrounding Pacific Ocean waters are teeming with a menagerie of wildlife. Tapirs, jaguars, crocodiles and caymans, pumas, peccaries, and coatis move throughout this dense coastal rainforest. In the canopy, the chatter, and howls of all four species of Costa Rica’s monkeys, combined with the songs of all manner of tropical birds, accented with brilliant flashes of their vivid colors, including scarlet macaws and toucans. After sunset, a roaring cacophony of insect sounds fills the night air.

Offshore, the waters are host to migrating whales, schools of dolphins, sharks, black marlins, barracuda, and tuna, just to name a few. Its reefs and coral gardens are filled with brightly colored tropical species of all kinds…

Its beaches and coves are isolated, untouched, and enchanted. This incredible concentration of flora and fauna is why we love this place so very much. That is why when you visit Corcovado National Park, you never want to leave.

However, this treasure of biodiversity is under constant pressure, made worse by COVID-19. The virus has resulted in the shutdown of Costa Rican tourism and eliminated access for volunteers and researchers from abroad. The surrounding communities that depend on tourism for income-producing jobs have been devastated. Local people have had to turn to illegal hunting, animal trafficking, logging, and mining to feed their families.

Without the revenue generated by park visitors and tour operators, the authorities and park rangers are scrambling for resources to meet the new challenges of what is literally an invasion of Corcovado and the outright assault on the precious creatures within its boundaries.

Now more than ever, Corcovado National Park needs the support of people that love it, like you and me. Donations to this program will help us finance immediate needs that the park requires to face the challenges that threaten its biodiversity and ecosystems. 

On July 15th, GlobalGiving will be matching any donation between $100 in $1000. The Park Officials have offered special prizes for the five most substantial contributions received during the first 12 hours of the Bonus Day.  When Costa Rica reopens, the first five largest donors to this campaign, and a friend, will join an expert ranger team to cross from Los Patos to Sirena, visiting the most untouched and unexplored areas of the park. You’ll be going into places under the supervision of the rangers where tourists cannot go.  This is the most awesome Corcovado experience that anyone can hope for!  Be ready to donate on July 15th, make a massive difference for Corcovado National Park, and live the most amazing and wild experience of your life.