128Canopy Blog

The recent celebration of Costa Rica’s National Park Day not only allowed for the parks to be in the spotlight, but also the park rangers.

The rangers took this opportunity to cry out for help as their efforts can only accomplish a fraction of what is truly required for protection and maintenance.  Costa Rica currently has 28 National Parks and over 150 protected areas which make up thousands of kilometers that need to be watched.

The Ministry of Energy and Environment (Minae) and the National System for Area Perseverance (Sinac) as well as other related institutions have come up with a volunteer membership program which will help strengthen the feeble park ranger budget.

The membership program estimates it will gather at least an extra 1 million dollars to help train and professionalize the current park ranger staff as well as give them all necessary tools and facilities to carry out their job.

Funds will be distributed among training, new and more modern equipment as well as a better park infrastructure.  The voluntary membership will be launched in two categories which include individual donations as well as collective or institutional donations.