Ostional: Community Centered Conservation

The coastal community of Ostional rests on the edge of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. It is the site of a unique natural phenomenon that has birthed strong community institutions as well as ongoing international controversy.

Ostional is one of the few places in the world that experiences the phenomenon known as arribada, meaning “arrival”. During an arribada, tens of thousands of female Olive Ridley sea turtles come ashore to nest at the same time. Within hours, the beach becomes covered in more turtles than most people will experience in their lifetimes. This occurs every month throughout the year with the exception of two or three months that have limited nesting activity, though the numbers of nesting turtles vary from season to season. So many turtles nest on a relatively small beach that they begin digging up previously laid nests in the process of laying their own.

The community also benefits economically by selling the only “legally harvested” eggs in marketplaces throughout the country. This leads to a very complex conflict between scientists, inside and outside Costa Rica, and the local community about the validity and ethics of such a project and local rights to resources. Many scientists argue that it is unethical and only promotes the consumption of an endangered species, further contributing to the decline of all sea turtle species by condoning such behavior.

This highlights a prevalent disconnect that many scientists and those who work in environmental conservation have between the conservation of “resources” and the local communities in which the resources are located. All too often people are removed from the process of conserving nature. This misses a central piece to the puzzle of successful resource management. Communities have the potencial to be the greatest allies in protecting a reousource, as the Ostional community has demonstrated.

In Ostional, association members serve as caretakers of their precious resource and the environment it requires. They are responsible for taking care of the beach and cleaning it up in order to maintain their membership and monthly allotment of turtle eggs. This deepens the relationship that the community has with the entire ecosystem, and makes members accountable for their own actions. Such institutional arrangements lead to strong connections between the health of the resources on which members depend for livelihood and the state of their environment.

People cannot be removed from the equation when addressing issues of environment and conservation, despite the many attempts to do so by environmental organizations and scientists around the globe. The only way that conservation efforts and vital natural resources will endure is if their care is directly tied to the livelihoods of the people that depend on them. This requires a systems approach and a sound mechanism for management. Despite its many challenges and the controvery it has inspired, Ostional has become an example of both.

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As night falls, more turtles arrive, covering the beach until there is nowhere left to stand.

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