DOS BRAZOS DEL RIO TIGRE, Osa Peninsula – Applications for concessions to extract sand and gravel along southern Costa Rica's Río Tigre have sparked concern and conflicting viewpoints about Osa Peninsula's development.
According to environment experts, the concessions could have a negative impact on the river and the surrounding rain forest, as well as on the small community of Dos Brazos del Río Tigre , located on the river only two kilometers from Corcovado National Park (TT, March 27).
On the other hand, those persons seeking each concession have
the opportunity to show the environmental and social
impacts might not be as severe as environmentalists say, while
some are trying to show their
project will improve the lives of
surrounding residents.
Government environment officials already approved one of the concession applications was already approved in December 2008. Materiales del Occidente , S.A. is allowed to extract up to 1,200 cubic meters of material from the river per day. Of this, 600 cubic meters must go toward rebuilding the road that connects the nearby town of Puerto Jiménez to the mainland, while the remainder can be sold on the open market. Once the roadwork is completed, the amount the company will be permitted to extract will reduce to 700 cubic meters per day.
The other five pending applicants are seeking concessions to remove sand and gravel to sell on the open market.
Uncertain Impact
Marco Hidalgo, a biologist who lives on the Osa Peninsula , said the consequences of industrial extraction of materials can seriously affect the river's ecosystem. “Historically, the Río Tigre has already had its share of difficulties, specifically with erosion and sedimentation, because of the huge amount of logging that was done,” Hidalgo said. “This means there is already a large amount of sedimentation in the river and in the Golfo Dulce, and how much more they can both actually take, I'm not sure.”
According to Hidalgo , removing material from a river increases erosion upstream and downstream, which also speeds up the river's flow. When the river moves faster, it sweeps nutrients with it, and fish are left without their usual food sources on the river bottom.
In addition, Hidalgo said, increased turbidity can also decrease the tolerance of fish to disease and overall physical stress. This increased sedimentation can also disrupt fish reproduction by interfering with the viability of eggs and fry.
In search of answers, Dos Brazos residents recently contacted Jorge Lobo, professor of biology at the University of Costa Rica , to help identify the possible environmental effects if the concessions go forward.
Lobo is concerned about the water and wildlife, and said that if enough material is removed from the rivers, they will lower the water table and damage the aquifer, a reserve of fresh water underneath the river bed.
“(The mining groups) need to think about the quality of the water,” Lobo said. “Ecologists have recommended that all the rivers in the Osa be well regulated and taken care of because they're so sensitive. I don't think allowing multiple mining concessions to dredge them is along those lines.”
Mining for the Poor
Four of the five pending concession applications have been filed by private companies hailing from outside the Osa peninsula. The fifth application is from the Puerto Jiménez Integral Development Association, the only applicant who has consented to an extensive interview with The Tico Times about its proposed concession.
“I'm not against conserving the environment,” said the association's president, Lidiethe Franceschi, a lifelong Puerto Jiménez resident. “But we don't have many other options for generating income – we can't cut lumber, we can't mine profitably for gold…what would they have us do?” Traditionally, small communities subsisting on gold panning only find enough per day to trade in for the day's food.
The Puerto Jiménez Integral Development Association applied for the concession three years ago, and it already has a plan for where the profits are headed.
“We plan to sell the extracted materials at three different prices: we will give the materials to the poorest residents in Puerto Jiménez, we will sell them at a discounted price to middle-class residents and at (market) prices for big development projects,” Fraceschi said.
She added that all the materials will be put toward local development projects, whether public or private.
“The poor people in my community need this material so they have the opportunity to build and develop,” said Fraceschi. “It's mostly the foreigners who move down here, who already have plenty of money, who don't want the Osa to develop at all. They have to remember that this land also belongs to the pueblos (the people), and everyone in Costa Rica has the right to concession its natural resources.”
Environmental Protocol
All of the companies seeking concessions have prepared proposals that include their own preliminary assessments of the environmental impact their activity could cause. The National Technical Secretariat of the Environment Ministry (SETENA) reviews each company's assessment, and decides whether a more extensive Environmental Impact Assessment should be carried out.
According to one of SETENA's environmental analysts, Oscar Umaña, SETENA will always ask for a full Environmental Impact Study in cases such as these.
“It's an extensive study and we outline what and who needs to be included,” said Umaña. “We ask for environmental impacts, how they plan to correct them, social impacts and who would be affected.”
They also list the types of experts who should participate in the study. For example, one of the applicants, Agroindustrial la Unión S.A., is required to hire a biologist, geologist and sociologist to complete the assessment properly, according to the requirements included in SETENA's Enviromental Impact Study outline which consists of a package of documents given to each company. Each applicant has a year to complete the study.
Fraceschi said the Puerto Jiménez Integral Development Association plans to have a biologist and an ecologist on call permanently, making sure there are no unforeseen effects.
Community Against the Concessions
The concession sought by Agroindustrial la Unión is located in the community of Dos Brazos, many of whose members are trying their best to stop it. The Dos Brazos Conservation Association is attempting to preserve the livelihood of a community where about 80 percent of income comes from gold panning in Río Tigre , while the rest comes from the steadily developing tourism industry. If the company owns that portion of the river it will be considered private property, and gold panners will no longer have access to their only source of income.
Elizabeth Jones, a prominent member of the association, is concerned about the effects of other possibly illicit activities that panners may be forced to turn to if they are unable to pan gold.
“If the people can't mine anymore, what will they do?” said Jones. “There are only a few other options for earning money around here – going further up the small tributaries and using one of the illegal mining methods (such as using pressurized water to wash down hillsides or the sides of the stream beds), poaching or logging. All of these will ruin the rain forest we've been working so hard to preserve.”
According to Jones, few residents use these other methods of earning income because they're able to sustain themselves by panning in the river proper.
“If the concessions pass, then we can't mine anymore, and if that happens, who knows what we'll have to resort to,” said Alfredo Ortiz, who has been mining in Río Tigre for 15 years.
“If they take over this river we won't be able to eat – that's a fact,” said Ortiz.
Each report by the five groups identifies several areas that could be adversely affected by their mining activity. They analyzed the potentially harmful effects on the water and air, animal and plant life, as well as negative impact on humans.
All five applications assert that the environmental impact of proposed activities is low enough so as not to require an Environmental Impact Assessment to be reviewed by SETENA.
Dos Brazos Weighs Options
Two representatives from the Conservation Association of Dos Brazos visited San José in late March seeking more detailed information on the mining applications. Umaña assured them that despite the company's verdict that they don't need to complete the official Environment Impact Assessment, SETENA has instructed all the companies to do so.
Umaña also told the association representatives that they can submit their own environmental study to rebut that of the company. Umaña is the official in charge of reviewing two of the five applications once they've completed their study, and will have to analyze the official Environment Impact Assessment, along with any information submitted by parties that opposethe concessions.
“It's possible for the opposing party's arguments to be stronger than those of the companies wanting to do the concession,” said Umaña. “I will have the opportunity to view all the facts (and arguments) and then decide whether or not to pass the Environmental Impact Assessment.
According to the association, the difficulty here is that any environmental study should include biologists, engineers and lawyers, whose hourly fees may prove too expensive for the modest community of Dos Brazos. Members of the association are trying to get enlist local biologists such as Hidalgo to help with the studies.
Effects on Fauna and Aquifer
Hildalgo, the analyst from SETENA, said that one species found in the Río Tigre surely to be affected is the river shrimp, which migrate to the mouth of the river every year to reproduce. They are also the main source of food for the river otter, which is an endangered species in Costa Rica .
Other types of fauna that feed directly from the river will also be affected.
Despite the fact that all the concessions would be located within 11 kilometers from one another and from the Corcovado park entrance on the same river, and the general consensus among the applicants was that there would not be a substantial environmental impact, the analyses presented to SETENA by the prospective concessionaires differed on certain issues.
Dos Iguanas Verdes S.A. said its mining concession would have no effect on the fauna in the area, while Agroindustrial la Union S.A. and the Puerto Jiménez Integral Development Association both said their concession would in fact affect the fauna. None of the companies said their activities could harm an endangered species.
“The concessions would definitely lower the quality of life in the river,” said Hidalgo . “I predict that the amount of fish and fauna in the area would drop by 50 percent, and that includes upstream, not just where the concessions are.”
How many is too many?
Fraceschi said that when they first started applying for the concession they had no idea other companies were also interested in the same stretch of river.
“There's no way that amount of river could support six concessions,” she said.
One difficulty for the environmental analysts at SETENA is that they have no way of knowing there are other concessions on the same river, unless they are dealing with more than one at the same time. Umaña, for instance, is only processing two of the applications and wasn't aware the others existed.
Umaña emphasized that SETENA doesn't benefit from allowing concessions, and if the environmental impact is too negative, the concession won't be passed.
“It's important that we're impartial and that we're only looking at the facts,” said Umaña. “Though that does includes social and environmental impacts.”
Fraceschi hopes SETENA realizes the importance of their task.
I think the responsibility falls on SETENA's shoulders to realize that while one concession might not ruin the river, five probably will,” she said. “It's their job to review the applications and decide what's possible.”
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