12 Oct Second annual Puerto Jimenez mangrove and beach cleanup

On September 26^th, Friends of the Osa participated in the second annual Puerto Jiménez mangrove and beach cleanup. This activity is part of a global Ocean Conservancy initiative, with  Terra Nostra as the Costa Rican organizer and the Puerto Jiménez Environmental Coalition as the local organizer.

We had around 60 participants, including students, girl scouts, Frontier volunteers, community members, hotel staff from Lapa Rios, Bosque del Cabo, El Remanso and other local organizations such as ASCONA.  In total, we cleaned 1.5km of beach and 0.5km of mangrove.

Looking at the results presented below, it’s clear that there is a need to reduce the amount of waste.  While we already focus on education and community awareness about the responsible management of waste and recycling, it is apparent that more action needs to be taken particularly along the edge of the mangrove.  The Environmental Coalition, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and MINAET (Costa Rica’s environmental ministry), will be working on a way to address this issue.

Summary of the waste collected. 190 kg is recyclable while 2.3 TONS is not.