This project is part of the 30x30 Strategy that aims to ensure the conservation of 30% of the planet's land and ocean surface by 2030.
June 1, 2023, San José - Costa Rica. -Together with the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), the European Union has also launched today the initiative "Costa Rica is Biodiversity 30x30". This project is part of the Euroclima program and will contribute to the maintenance and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services through sustainable management and the application of Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECM) as part of Costa Rica's climate change adaptation strategy.
The project is implemented by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and executed by the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) with the support of the University of Costa Rica Foundation. The program, endowed with 2 million euros, will focus on the following objectives:
- Addressing Gaps and Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECM).
- Management of ecosystem services
- Biodiversity monitoring
- 4.Ecosystem restoration.
The project is part of the 30x30 Strategy that aims to ensure the conservation of 30% of the planet's land and ocean surface by 2030, an initiative launched by the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC) during Pre-COP 25 and co-chaired by Costa Rica, France, and the United Kingdom.
Felix Fernandez Shaw, Director for Latin America, and the Caribbean of the Directorate General for International Partnerships, noted during the opening of this event that "Costa Rica is a valued partner of the European Union and a globally recognized leader in biodiversity protection. The EU wants to deepen its cooperation with Costa Rica and the region to respond to common challenges and promote a just green and digital transition. To do this, we are preparing a Global Gateway Investment Agenda ahead of the upcoming EU-CELAC summit."
In addition, Fernandez Shaw emphasized that this launch is also part of the cooperation priorities and the new biodiversity program that will help Costa Rica achieve the 30X30 objective, "... which demonstrates the commitment of the European Union with Costa Rica and the region," he said.
Rafael Gutiérrez Rojas, Costa Rica's Vice Minister of Environment, said that "These actions are of great relevance for our country and to continue with the work of disseminating environmental values in society, to raise awareness of the importance of generating actions to prevent the destruction of our environment and the natural resources we have and to reverse climate change and its effects on biodiversity".
Gutiérrez added that "Costa Rica has adhered to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change since 1994 and has been working on this type of actions to address this crisis that our planet is experiencing and to seek solutions as a country. It also calls on other institutions and sectors to join these actions and continue seeking the protection and conservation of our environment".
"... environmental protection and the fight against climate change are central axes of the Spanish Cooperation. We support development models that integrate environmental protection, ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Convention on Biological Diversity to which both Costa Rica and Spain are part of," stated Eva Martinez, Ambassador of Spain in Costa Rica.
Shaping the Steering Committee "Costa Rica is Biodiversity 30x30" .
Within the framework of the "Costa Rica is Biodiversity 30x30" action, this launch was used to install the steering committee, which will be made up of representatives of each of the institutions involved (EU, AECID and MINAE). This committee will have the function of meeting periodically to validate and approve the decisions made with the intervention.
This event was held at the Ecological Park of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), which is MINAE’s responsible agency for the protected areas administration.
About Costa Rica
Despite its small size, Costa Rica concentrates 5% of the world's biodiversity. The management of this wealth is carried out with conservation measures that must also face the effects of climate change. In its environmental foreign policy, Costa Rica has upheld the importance of including nature-based solutions in the context of the ecosystem approach. Nature-based solutions are conceived as an opportunity for synergies between climate change and biodiversity objectives. The country has 26% of its terrestrial territory and 30% of its marine territory under some category of protection within its National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC). Furthermore, there are 51 biological corridors (38% of the country's terrestrial territory), whose purpose is to provide connectivity between landscapes, ecosystems, and habitats to ensure the maintenance of biodiversity, which have become a national strategy to address biodiversity adaptation to climate change. This country has a National Biodiversity Policy 2015-2030 and a National Biodiversity Strategy 2016-2025 that constitute the Public Policy framework for the conservation, sustainable use and equitable distribution of the benefits of Costa Rica's biodiversity.
About Euroclima
Euroclima is a program funded by the European Union and co-financed by the German federal government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as well as by the governments of France and Spain through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union, and Cooperation. The Program's mission is to reduce the impact of climate change and its effects in 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean by promoting mitigation, adaptation, resilience, climate investment and biodiversity. To this end, it is implemented according to the "Spirit of Team Europe" under the synergistic work of seven agencies: Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), AFD Group: Agence Française de Développement (AFD)/ Expertise France (EF), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policies (FIIAPP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
For further information, please contact:
Melanie Bonilla Rico, Communication Officer of the Spanish Cooperation Office in Costa Rica.
Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)
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