{"id":23565,"date":"2026-07-07T14:53:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/mas-de-una-tonelada-de-residuos-recolectada-en-tres-islas-del-golfo-de-nicoya\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T15:25:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:25:40","slug":"over-one-ton-of-solid-waste-collected-on-three-islands-in-the-gulf-of-nicoya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/over-one-ton-of-solid-waste-collected-on-three-islands-in-the-gulf-of-nicoya\/","title":{"rendered":"Over one ton of solid waste collected on three islands in the Gulf of Nicoya"},"content":{"rendered":"
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    1,033.56 kilograms of waste were removed from the coasts of Isla Caballo, Isla Venado, and Isla Chira during a beach cleanup led by Amigos Isla del Coco (Faico) and the Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED).<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
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    The activity brought together academia, the private sector, organizations, and local communities in an alliance to protect the country’s marine-coastal ecosystems.<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>

    June 2026. Amigos Isla del Coco (Faico), with support from SC Johnson de Centroam\u00e9rica S.A., organized a beach cleanup on Isla Caballo, Isla Venado, and Isla Chira, together with the Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED), the UNED Student Federation (FEUNED), the UNED Foundation for the Development and Promotion of Distance Education (FUNDEPREDI), and the Alliance for the Forest and the Community (SAVIA). The activity supports Faico’s goals of protecting Costa Rica’s marine-coastal ecosystems through partnerships across multiple sectors.<\/p>\n

    The result was striking: 1,033.56 kilograms of waste removed from the gulf’s coastline, thanks to the joint effort of dozens of volunteers, students, and community members who dedicated a full day to cleaning up the coastal ecosystems around them.<\/p>\n

    Community organizations also joined the effort, including the Association for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Adaptation (ADESAC-FIETUR) on Isla Venado; the Mussel and Shellfish Farming Association (ASOCMEMA) and the Montero Mixed Fishermen’s Association (ASOMIXTA), both on Isla Chira; and the United Fishermen’s Association on Isla Caballo.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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    Luis Barreda, president of ADESAC-FIETUR on Isla Venado, noted that for the community, protecting the environment, the mangroves, and the beaches is essential to prevent water pollution, which sustains the island. He explained that a polluted environment directly harms artisanal fishing, the islanders’ main productive activity, and that from a tourism standpoint, a clean island allows them to attract more visitors.<\/p>\n

    The crews worked by sector: on Isla Caballo they cleaned Playa Bobos, Playa Peralta, Playa Rojas, Playa Torres, and surrounding areas, collecting 480 kilograms; on Isla Venado they worked in the mangrove area, Playa Albina, and Playa Oriente, collecting 318.26 kilograms; and on Isla Chira they focused on Playa Montero, Playa Muertos, and Las Gavilanas, collecting 235.30 kilograms.<\/p>\n

    Alejandra Villalobos, executive director of Amigos Isla del Coco (Faico), remarked that the cleanup shows marine conservation is only possible when different sectors work together, and that seeing universities, the private sector, local communities, and Faico united around a shared goal is a reminder that caring for the Gulf of Nicoya and Costa Rica’s Pacific coast is a shared responsibility \u2014 one where each alliance like this strengthens not only the ecosystem, but also the social fabric.<\/p>\n

    Paola Gastezzi-Arias, professor and researcher at UNED, added that this kind of campaign encourages civic participation and builds awareness of the impact of waste on coastlines, while also strengthening the university’s ties to island territories.<\/p>\n

    Research from the Center for Marine Science and Limnology Research (CIMAR) reveals alarming concentrations of microplastics in the waters, sands, and marine life of the Gulf of Nicoya, which has become a critical receiving point for plastic waste from the Greater Metropolitan Area \u2014 pollution that threatens both food security and coastal biodiversity in the region. Along the same lines, the “Marine-Coastal Atlas of the Gulf of Nicoya,” a multidisciplinary assessment produced by the Marviva Foundation, notes that microplastics are found not only in the water but also inside fish, confirming that the area is currently producing contaminated seafood products.<\/p>\n

    Against this backdrop, cleanups like the one carried out on Isla Caballo, Isla Venado, and Isla Chira take on special significance: every kilogram of waste removed from the coast is a concrete step against a pollution crisis that threatens both marine biodiversity and the livelihoods of the gulf’s fishing communities. For Faico, this represents concrete progress toward marine conservation and proof that partnerships multiply the impact of initiatives like this one.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1769],"tags":[2006,2008],"class_list":["post-23565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-press-releases","tag-clean-up","tag-gulf-of-nicoya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23565"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23566,"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23565\/revisions\/23566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocosisland.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}