Deforestation in Arenal Volcano Park Raises Concern for Key Basin in Costa Rica

There is new evidence of deforestation in Costa Rica’s Arenal Volcano National Park, which is located in a key basin area.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAET) says the environmental damage is vast, and that it was carrying out a study performed to quantify exactly how vast.

The Arenal Basin provides 70 percent of the water for nearby towns.

Park rangers and investigators confirmed they had found evidence of illegal tree removal operations in the park, including fences, pathways and canopy cables “built with high-resistance wire” to remove trees from inaccessible locations.

Judicial sources told local media at the beginning of this month that no legal action had yet been taken.

Residents of La Fortuna have expressed concern about the deforestation so close to springs and water intakes that supply people in La Fortuna, Santo Domingo, La Orquídea, Chambacú de Monterrey, Santa Rosa and Acapulco.

The trees that were cut down on the north side of the volcano -- pilon and tamarind trees -- apparently were chosen because of their market value.

Costa Rica has strict environmental laws, but with the price of wood reaching millions of colones (the local currency), the temptation to flout those regulations can be strong.