Costa Rica: Pre-Bilateral - Case Study

Environment   Oct 5, 2017 by Marisol Sanchez

A) What are the environmental impacts of this resource extraction?

• Short-term: the project is located in San Carlos in the San Juan river basin which is an environmentally sensitive area. San Juan is known for having a rich biodiversity, this zone registers 130 species of trees per hectare. People in San Carlos are complaining since there is lack of work in this zone which affects their economy. The Infinite Gold Company offered them jobs, getting their hopes up, but the project was canceled leaving them without job. Project Crucitas also had a negative impact on the communities near the area, causing deforestation and contamination. 
• Long-term, in terms of climate change: since The Infinite Gold Company owns this area but wasn't able to continue their project, the land was left unsupervised. Miners started stealing gold without environmental control and they also used mercury which causes heath problems, the use of mercury compromises the immune system, nervous system and respiratory system. Another problem is that people started cutting a lot of trees, trees that are protected by the law and are not allowed to be cut. Also, along with adults who were stealing gold, many minors started dropping out of school in order to work as miners in Project Crucitas, which is illegal.  

B) Who benefits from this resource extraction? Who is disadvantaged? How is this connected to colonization?

• People who benefit from this extractions are the ones working as miners since they get to make more money and get a job because like I said before, this area has lack of employments so this is a way for them to get a job but this benefit has its price to pay. Although they get the benefit of getting money they are also affected. Because of their work and the use of Mercury they compromised their health and the health of people in and near the area. 

C) What kinds of opposition / environmental preservation being carried out by the following groups, especially as this case contributes to climate change? Are any of them in conflict? Whose interests are at stake?

• The court didn't give permits in order to continue the project and there were two environmental groups that were in favor of not giving the permits although many people in the community agreed since it was of benefit to them due to their lack of jobs.
• Communities outside Costa Rica supported the decision of not giving the permits and were glad that The Golden Infinite Company left Costa Rica and wasn't able to proceed with the Crucitas Project.
• Thanks to the court, the ministry of environment and the environmental groups weren't in favor, this project was canceled. 

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