| July 2007, Issue 7 |
| LightHawk's monthly update, WayPoint, was created to share some of the good news we on staff learn about daily. These success stories illustrate the critical role we play in conservation efforts throughout North and Central America through the unique perspective of flight. We hope you enjoy WayPoint and will share with others our success stories from above. |
LightHawk Helps to Halt Illegal Development in Costa Rican ParadiseCosta Rica’s central Pacific coast, best known for its rich biological diversity, undeveloped beaches, and Manuel Antonio National Park, is feeling the effects of the burgeoning development of sprawling trophy homes and commercial development. Though this kind of coastal development is not unique to Costa Rica, the lush forests being destroyed are matchless, irreplaceable - and protected by law. The forests provide critical habitat for the endangered mono titi (red-backed squirrel monkey) and the sloth, as well as much needed wildlife corridors used by a host of species, many of which are found in few other places. Recent LightHawk flights aided in protecting these forests and brought much-needed media attention to the issue. Though Costa Rica’s dense coastal forests are protected, many developers, in conjunction with willing local authorities looking to bring money into the region, ignore existing law. As a result, the central Pacific coast is under siege from residential and tourism-related development. The national government, while opposed to these activities, lacks adequate resources to patrol the region or enforce regulations. Illegal development can only be acted upon by the Minister of the Environment and Costa Rica’s environmental court (SETENA) if there is photographic evidence of the site’s original forest cover. Without this evidence, local conservation groups and land managers working to protect this region cannot prove the violations occurred (i.e., that the area was forested prior to development and therefore protected). As groups working to enforce land use regulation are prohibited from entering the land on the ground, LightHawk provides the means and method for obtaining this evidence. Through flight, and in collaboration with the Fund for Costa Rica (FCR), LightHawk gathers irrefutable photographic evidence of both original intact forest cover and on-going destructive land clearing.
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On our most recent series of flights for FCR, LightHawk not only obtained evidence of illegal development, (which subsequently was halted by SETENA based on that evidence) but helped to bring media attention to the issue as well. The flights produced several in-depth newspaper stories that highlighted the illegal development activities, and called for enforcement of existing law and an overhaul of local land use regulations. FCR is a small, grassroots non-profit organization focused on biodiversity conservation along the country’s pristine central Pacific coast. The organization conducts public awareness campaigns on the devastating effects of intensive development on the area’s natural resources and also works to promote long-term environmental management plans. The collaboration between LightHawk and FCR began more than two years ago to detect illegal deforestation and development and to document existing forest stands as a baseline against future clearing. Aerial photos gathered on several LightHawk flights have been used to successfully halt several projects deemed destructive and illegal by the Minister of the Environment. For more info on the Fund for Costa Rica’s work, please
visit their website at:
www.fundforcostarica.org Quote From The Flight
“With this flight, we were able to follow up on
pictures we took with Lighthawk last year.
Thus, Lighthawk is allowing us to develop a database of forest cover in the Manuel Antonio area. Without
Lighthawk flights we would not be
able document standing forest and illegal intrusions by developers. Lighthawk flights have become an
essential tool in our efforts to stop
illegal deforestation in the Manuel Antonio area. Observations and pictures we have
taken on Lighthawk flights have directly led to legal action by Costa Rican authorities to stop
deforestation.
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Volunteer Pilot Kevin Roache and Lorca Leon, Program
Director for the Fund for Costa Rica.
About LightHawk
Founded in 1979, LightHawk is a nonprofit, volunteer pilot-based organization that flies environmental missions in collaboration with a network of more than 140 pilots and hundreds of partner organizations throughout Central and North America. LightHawk flights provide a powerful and effective platform for research, groundtruthing, environmental awareness and education.
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