It is critical to preserve this bio-diversity not only for the people who live in the Osa, but for the good of the world. The oxygen provided by the rain-forest helps balance the global warming effect. Rain-forest plants are a vital source for major medicinal breakthroughs. As well, our emotional well-being depends on places that give us a sense of peace and harmony. By depleting different wild life species, the chain of survival is broken which leads to dis-equilibrium in nature. By allowing deforestation our climates will continue to change dramatically. It is of global significance, this tiny unique region, which faces ever-increasing threats by hunters, loggers, and developers. As women who live and work and raise our children here, we feel especially called to conserve this amazing and resourceful place not only for ourselves, but for future generations.
We are concerned that proposed incongruous projects such as marinas, airports, and megadevelopments, threaten the landscape that is one of the richest displays of nature on Planet Earth, where up to 50% of the biodiversity of Costa Rica, and 2.5% of the entire world flourishes. Osa represents that “100% Naturalâ€? idea that the marketing campaigns sell to the world about Costa Rica. It is also one of the most environmentally sensitive areas on Earth. In many respects, it represents the best of Costa Rica. As you, Dr. Arias, yourself have said, “It is a rare treasure…we have truly been blessed with the task of guarding this unique treasure, and we have an immense responsibility to be good stewards.”
As neighbors and stewards living and working in this community, we, The Women of the Osa, along with biologists, environmentalists, and other members of the Osa Peninsula community call upon the government of Costa Rica, and you as its leader, to provide protection against environmentally disastrous development by granting protected-area status to the Golfo Dulce. We believe that this is the best way to protect one of Costa Rica’s foremost environmental treasures while continuing to show the kind of leadership in ecological stewardship that Costa Rica is known for and respected throughout the world. We encourage Costa Rican authorities to protect Golfo Dulce and the entire peninsula with conservative measures that rethink the impact that approving any kind of mega project would have on the fragile eco system. We believe that Mega Development is not compatible with Conservation. Period. It is time to set forth the guidelines and limitations that are necessary to continue to protect this area from ruination.
We know that it is possible to create environmentally conscious and socially responsible development in an ecologically sensitive area. It is possible to sustain a community that can enjoy the treasure that Osa is without mega projects that are incompatible with conservation and protection of Costa Rica’s greatest resource. Several boutique, lodge style hotels in Osa have achieved this, and retreat centers and modest rental homes and eco villages have carved their unique spaces out of this biosphere, and done so with little endangerment to the wildlife, the marine life, and the prolific fauna surrounding them. Osa is a premiere travel destination because it is one of the few places on earth where “mega mania� has not struck. Land owners, environmental and ecological organizations, eco tourism businesses and visitors to the Osa Peninsula see it as the proving ground for protecting and sustaining biodiversity, while developing and sustaining a rural economy.

If the Osa Peninsula is to be at the forefront of a your Presidential Initiative, “Peace with Nature�, can we trust that you will to fight not only for conservation of the corridor between Corcovado and Piedras Blancas, but for the entire Golfo Dulce and Osa Peninsula region; to protect the clarity of the water, to protect the integrity of the forests and mangroves, and to protect the diversity of life that is so abundant in this unique environment?

Please let the Osa Peninsula stand as an example to the world of man’s best attempt to live in harmony with the earth, and make Peace with Nature. Let us be the model for how to build, plant, live, with positive impact on the environment, rather than as constant threat to it. Let us secure the Osa Peninsula, from over development, from mega projects, and from over population and severe impact by humans. Help us to continue to protect the natural resources of this region that are so important to the overall health and well being of the country and of the planet.

Sincerely and in good faith,

WOMEN Of the OSA