New GIS Tool for Municipality of Osa

This new tool, developed by the local government of Osa, was designed to offer GIS information about the Osa Municipality and the services it provides to the area. These digital and dynamic maps can be converted to various files types such as PNG, GIF, JPEG, SVG, or WebCGM and can be created to represent multiple geographic elements such as streets, districts, protected areas, watersheds, and more.

Find out more about these maps. 

Whale and Dolphin Festival in Bahía Ballena

On September 5^th - 7^th and 12^th -14^th, the town of Bahía Ballena, Osa, Costa Rica will be celebrating its annual whale and dolphin festival in conjunction with The Association of Tourism Operators (ASOTU). These marine activities take place around the National Marine Whale Park in the Osa, and will be host to numerous other tourism activities that will take place, such as sports events, cycling, a sculpting contest, photo exhibition, concerts, environmental workshops, food and much more. All are invited to participate, enjoy, and celebrate the numerous species of resident and migratory whales, dolphins, and turtles of Bahía Ballena.

For more information on the event, please visit their website. 

Restoration of Locomotive Engine 84 of Palmar Sur, Osa

On August 8^th, a commemorative event was held in front of the Park of the Spheres in Palmar Sur for the restoration of Locomotive 84. The engine had been in disuse for more than 30 years, and was slowing deteriorating until it was restored to its original look from the 1940s. Over 250 people attended the event which began early in the day and ended late in the afternoon. Many artistic and cultural events took place throughout the day, including:

• A women’s clown troupe called “Sonrisas de Bendición” from Ciudad Cortés.
• La cimarrona “Los Alegres del Sur” with Mascarada.
• Música de la banda. 
• Grupo de Guitarras.
• Bailes Folclóricos “Estrellas del Sur”.
• Songs to mothers and the elderly with María Elena Cruz Fuentes.
• Grupo “Canitas del Térraba” with popular dances.
• Grupo CREARTE: with their work “El ride de la risa”
• Grupo de música: “Consenti2” from the Southern Zone.

Watch a video of the event.  

The 7^th Annual Conference of Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP)

The emphasis of this Seventh international ESP conference will be on the use of the ecosystem services concept at the local level, focusing on Latin America with attention on Costa Rica. Several EU-funded projects will present their results on Community Based Ecosystem Management: CiVi.Net, COBRA, EcoADAPT and COMETLA. 

The program consists of a mix of plenary sessions, workshops, open topic sessions, and special sessions devoted to specific topics proposed by the collaborating organizations and sponsors.

More information on the event can be found here. 

U.S. National Park Service Employees Visit Costa Rican Sister Parks

In late July 2014, a five-member team from the National Park Service traveled to San Jose and the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica to meet with park officials and managers and discuss issues faced by both park agencies. Park officials from both countries exchanged technical information on monitoring natural resources and interpreting natural and cultural features in protected areas.

Read more here.