OHMCR The Best Costa Rica Travel Guide

The Maquenque Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica’s northern region has been submitted as a possible candidate for a Ramsar recognition.  The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran with the objective of providing a framework for international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Ramsar currently has over 158 members and over 1,755 wetlands that make up the Wetland List of the most important wetlands in the world.  Costa Rica is a member of Ramsar and has a total of 11 wetlands recognized by Ramsar.

This year’s annual convention was held in South Korea at which Costa Rica presented the documents to include the Maquenque Wetlands in the Ramsar list.  In order for a wetland to be considered as a candidate, it must comply with Ramsar’s regulations.  The submitted wetland must be either a unique area or be of importance for the conservation and protection of the area’s biodiversity.

The Maquenque Wildlife Refuge is located in the northern region of the province of Heredia in Sarapiqui.  The Maquenque protected area occupies a great portion of the Costa Rican protected territory that is to be integrated with the Nicaraguan protected territory for the formation of a bi-national biological corridor.

The Maquenque Wildlife Refuge is home to over 80 species of fish, 81 species of reptiles, 48 species of amphibians, 515 bird species, 139 mammals and over 350 tree species.

And most important of all, the Maquenque Wildlife Refuge protects one of the last Green Macaw population and almond trees that are crucial for the macaw’s survival and reproduction.

To be accepted as part of the Ramsar Wetland List, the Maquenque Wetlands will join other Costa Rican wetlands such as Caño Negro, Gandoca-Manzanillo, Isla del Coco, Palo Verde, Terraba-Sierpe and six other wetlands.

written by Carolyn Ramer \\ tags: Caño Negro, Gandoca-Manzanillo, Isla del Coco, Maquenque Wildlife Refuge, Palo Verde, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Terraba-Sierpe

The term Eco-Tourism has become a popular one among tourism service providers not only in Costa Rica but in the entire Central American region as well.  However, the term has been thrown around so many times that its meaning or what it represents has become quite vague.

Therefore, in Costa Rica, an environmentally-conscious group of people got together to legally create the Costa Rican Chamber of Eco-Tourism in order to organize this sector.

The first thing the Chamber did was define the Eco-Tourism concept as a specialized segment within the responsible tourism sector that promotes and supports nature’s conservancy and the region’s cultural values.  The Eco-Tourism sector is responsible of interpreting these values to the tourist while contributing to the community’s social-economical ambiance.

In addition, the Chamber seeks to gather all people and organizations within the tourism industry and that are linked to eco-tourism activities.  All eco-tourism related issues will be addressed to the Chamber who has the ability to determine the policies, tendencies and legal actions that may be carried out.

Since its creation in 2003, the Costa Rican Chamber of Eco-Tourism has over 60 actively involved members from sectors such as hospitality, tour operator, car rentals, banks, arts and crafts, research organizations and others.

The Hacienda Guachipelin near the Rincon de la Vieja National Park for example, has gladly enrolled as a member of the chamber in order to contribute with the sector’s growth, promotion and social responsibility.

written by Carolyn Ramer \\ tags: Costa Rican Chamber of Eco Tourism, Hacienda Guachipelin, Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin, Rincon de la Vieja National Park

The Central American TACA Airline has announced that it will be dropping a $20 fuel surcharge from its tickets effective this week.  The airline decided to eliminate the charge due to the decrease in oil prices.

Starting this week, the extra ticket charge will be of $90 instead of the previous $110 charged by the airline.  An airline spokesperson announced that the decision was taken in order to benefit its loyal customers as well as offer the best service and price in the region.

The elimination of the $20 fuel surcharge for round trips will apply to all flights to and from Central America including Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Panama.

In addition, the airline has also announced a special rate for all its introductory flights within Central America by means of their new Embraer fleet.  The special rate for TACA’s introductory flights is of $199 (from Costa Rica) that includes taxes, surcharges as well as a double mileage point promotion.

The rate will apply for flights between Managua and San Jose; Guatemala and Managua as well as from San Jose to Managua.  The rate will apply for all tickets purchased before Friday November 14th, 2008.

TACA’s new Embraer fleet has a capacity of 96 passengers and has been divided in 88 seats for coach class and 8 for business class.  The airline has already included two of the 11 aircrafts purchased within their flight schedule and will be adding 9 more by 2009.

written by Carolyn Ramer \\ tags: flight to Central America, Flights to costa rica, TACA Airlines