Corcovado National Park Rescue Project!

Corcovado National Park has set limitations on the number of people allowed at each entrance. The increased demand for visits to the protected area and the restriction on the number of visits have caused much consternation and annoyance among park users.

Corcovado National Park has set limitations on the number of people allowed at each entrance. The increased demand for visits to the protected area and the restriction on the number of visits have caused much consternation and annoyance among park users.

Fauna is increasing around the area. The Corcovado Foundation is celebrating 20 years of environmental education, which has changed a perspective on nature and its role in the communities' wellbeing. Tourism is the other reason fauna thrives in the park and nearby communities.

Tourism creates jobs, and tourism visitation produces much-needed revenue in the area. However, the park policy to restrict visitation worries local companies.

One of the reasons the park is applying this policy is because of the deplorable condition of the trail system. This situation reduces tourists' quality of experience and makes the trails more vulnerable to tourism transit. The trails suffer from erosion because they lack the proper covering and management of the water. The absence of barriers, well-marked and dry trails, and a lack of signage encourage tourists to leave the trails, causing erosion, degradation of the ecosystems that border the trail, and risk for tourists.

We need to invest money in our trails to improve the tourist experience and promote ecosystem preservation. The trails require substantial improvements in infrastructure and signage. Applying water cutoffs to reduce runoff, waterways, and cover materials can allow trails to be more resilient to tourist traffic and the ravages of weather. The improvement in the trails can allow increasing their limit of acceptable change, which can increase the carrying capacity that the park has at this moment, with this improving the ability of visitation and the relationship of the park with the local communities.

The improvement of the trail network and the improvement in visitation can generate ways to expand public-private partnerships as part of business planning and economic scenarios for the management of tourism and recreation in the protected area, mainly focused on the conservation of the integrity of the protected area.

In order to help Corcovado with this situation, the foundation will be investing 38,000 dollars from the Osa Trust fund in trail improvement. This will solve some of the main needs of the trails, but it is just a start.

With that money, we hope to improve between 300 and 500 meters of trails.   The foundation will also support making signage for the park with the help of international volunteers. https://corcovadofoundation.org/voluntariado/educacion-ambiental/

Corcovado protects some of the most magnificent ecosystems in the world, provide incomparable experiences to visitors and secures income for communities, so that they can live with dignity. We will keep working hard to make sure it only improves.  Thank you for helping making this happen.