Sea turtle refuge in Costa Rica bulldozed by farming company

From an news release issued by Pretoma:

SAN JOSé, Costa Rica -- Agropecuaria Caletas S.A., has continued the destruction of wetlands within the Caletas Ario National Wildlife Refuge, created in 2006 to protect nesting olive ridley and leatherback sea turtles, disregarding the mandates of the Environmental Tribune of the Ministry of Environment.

Last April, responding to a lawsuit filed by Pretoma against Agropecuaria Caletas S.A. for draining the wetlands of the Caletas Ario Wildlife Refuge, the Environmental Tribune ordered the farming company to halt all of its activities in and around this sensitive wetland. Last June, the Environmental Tribune ordered the company to pay $21,200 for damages caused therein (Resolución N° 390-09-TAA). The resolution came after officials observed how the company is, by design, draining, burning and thereby sucking the biological diversity out of a 150 hectare wetland that boarders Playa Caletas on the southern Nicoya Peninsula.

Video taken by Pretoma this past weekend shows how the court order and subsequent fines have done nothing to stop the company's relentless efforts to drain and till under the wetland. "As a Costa Rican, it is quite upsetting to see Agropecuaria Caletas S.A.'s total disrespect of our Courts", said Randall Arauz, President of Pretoma. "The foreign owner of Agropecuaria Caletas S.A. has not only ignored the fine, but he is openly challenging the Environmental Tribune's authority, by continuing the destruction of the wetland without any apparent fear of legal reprisals".