Citizen Science: Potential to Breathe New Life into a Costa Rican National Park

In Playa Grande, Costa Rica citizen scientists have collected ecological monitoring data for decades. Data inform conservation strategies for leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). These data have proven important... [ view full abstract ]

In Playa Grande, Costa Rica citizen scientists have collected ecological monitoring data for decades. Data inform conservation strategies for leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). These data have proven important because they have demonstrated that Playa Grande holds the largest nesting population of leatherback turtles in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Data also revealed that factors including poaching and coastal development decreased the turtles’ population size. To protect the turtles, the Las Baulas Marine Park (PNMB) was formed and poaching was prohibited. Capitalizing on Costa Rica’s eco-tourism success, former poachers were trained as turtle tour guides. Turtle tourism and the protected beach facilitated employment and concurrent immigration of Nicaraguans and North Americans. However, this immigration has placed development pressure on PNMB, including legislative action to downgrade its protective status. Currently, beyond the threats to turtles, PNMB may also be undervalued by local residents. To increase PNMB’s perceived importance, scientists proposed increasing local peoples’ interaction with PNMB. One option was participation in turtle monitoring. However, few local residents assist in monitoring as these efforts are conducted almost exclusively by foreign volunteers though the Earthwatch Institute. My doctoral research thus focuses on how to engage local residents in expanded PNMB monitoring efforts. Specifically, I aim to use Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) as the first step towards co-management of PNMB. By conducting park surveys local residents could identify their unique park usage, discover potential for improved use of PNMB, and reveal any similarities and differences of usage among diverse residents. Through these efforts PNMB could be better suited to local needs and residents might place a greater value on the park. Therefore, PNMB would be safeguarded against future attacks on its park status and would remain a refuge for turtles. I seek insights from the citizen science community to understand PRA’s potential in PNMB.