The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) reported that the 170 gold miners that were located in the Shore of Termo River, in the limits of Corcovado National Park, voluntarily left the place, after the negotiations on Tuesday.
Dennis Carmona, secretary of MINAE Workers’ Union (SITRAMINAE), insisted that these people were not the real problem in Corcovado, but the more than 400 illegal gold miners exploiting the resources of the park.
The problem is not over, we have asked MINAE and SINAC authorities to intervene, but they have not done anything, while we have illegal hunting, deforestation and illegal mining that destroy ecosystems,”
said Carmona.
He recalled that the Constitutional Court already ruled against the actions of these illegal gold miners who entered the park in 2010, but that the Government does not comply with the ruling.
Most of the 170 gold miners who threatened to enter the park were identified as belonging to the Association of Former Gold Miners of the Osa Peninsula.
The Government agreed to maintain the dialogue with them to analyze the possibility of compensation.
Minister Edgar Gutiérrez vowed to review the feasibility to move forward with a bill that would allow to compensate the gold miner who were evicted from the Corcovado and Piedras Blancas National Parks of the Osa Peninsula.
The group entered the park last Sunday and, although it was initially said that they wanted to extract gold, the reality is that they wanted to reach an agreement with the Government to solve their situation.
The rangers insist that they are not enough, nor do they have enough resources to fight illegal gold extraction.
For example, only four rangers are assigned to Corcovado. In the country there are 169 protected areas and 35 of them receive tourists.