Interview with Diego Vicenzi: The Isla del Coco Expansion, the "30x30" initiative and CMAR in Costa Rica

LATIN COUNSEL chats with lawyer Diego Vincenzi, from the Costa Rica Ministry of Environment and Energy, about important environmental topics, such as the expansion of the "Isla del Coco", the 30x30 initiative, and CMAR, a foundation which helps the Oceans supported by re:wild and the Jeff Bezos Foundation.

Currently, Diego is the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Environment and Energy Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE), Gobierno de Costa Rica, and previously he was trade negotiator at Comex and Head of Office of Otto Guevara Guth.

Diego is a lawyer by profession, he is currently the Chief of Staff at the Minister of Environment and Energy, since 2018 assuming positions as advisor to the Office and the Deputy Minister of Water and Seas. He has a master’s degree in International Law from the American University, his area of expertise is public policies. He was trade negotiator at Comex and Head of Office of Otto Guevara (Libertarian Movement Party).

Diego Vicenzi: The process of expanding and creating the Bicentennial Marine Management Area began in 2018. After 5 years of extensive studies analyzing the feasibility of expanding the "Isla del Coco" National Park (PNIC) and its marine protected area, with the firm objective to guarantee the protection of our natural resources, including a large amount of seamounts as an object of conservation given the important contribution they provide to the production of biomass and health of our ecosystems.

Costa Rica has 92% of its territory in the ocean and at that time we only protected 2.9% of that marine territory (as opposed to the almost 27% that we already protect on the mainland). When we began to analyze the whole issue of expansion, we understood that life begins at the bottom of the ocean and that the biological richness of the seamounts located in the mountain range that begins in the Golfo Dulce and extends towards the "Isla del Coco", were part of our objectives of conservation.

This process was very open and inclusive, we held two rounds of dialogue tables with different sectors, we invited civil groups, fishermen, community parties, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and different government institutions. On the web platform of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, not only the information on the process was openly available, but also all the studies and basic documents that technically and legally supported the feasibility of making this expansion.

The biggest challenge we had was to reach a consensus between the productive sector and the conservation sector, which is still a challenge, but we worked very hard to achieve it. The rounds of dialogue passed, and we were able to comply with all the requirements that our environmental legislation requests for a process of this type. In December 2021, the decree that expands the limits of the PNIC was signed, creating a no-take zone of ​​about 52,000 square km, a historic milestone since our territory in continent measures about 52,000 square km and a management area of about 104,000 square km where the exploitation of the marine resource is allowed with a series of rules that will be stipulated in the Management Plan and the Fishing Use Plan that are being worked on.
Diego: The 30x30 initiative was born in a meeting held during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2019, when talks about a High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC) began. This initiative arises in response to investigations and reports that indicated that it is vital to protect 50% of the planet to fight the Climate Change, however, this goal was not feasible and it was agreed that a real percentage that would have an important effect was to protect 30% of the planet (land and ocean) by the year 2030.

The initiative focuses on increasing space targets to effectively protect or conserve at least 30% of the planet (land and ocean) by 2030; effective management of protected and conserved areas; an increase in public and private financing to guarantee long-term management and local public management; clear implementation mechanisms to put nature on track for recovery by 2030 and position the idea of ​​nature-based solutions at the COPs.
 
Diego: Yes, of course! As time goes by and science also advances, we come to understand that our ocean sequesters the carbon emitted in a greater amount and at a faster rate than our forests do. Also, we understand more and more that the threat of the rapid loss of biodiversity, as well as the acidification of the sea, affects our entire day to day, that it puts our food security at risk, puts our economy at risk and as the pandemic taught us, zoonotic diseases can become more frequent and more aggressive if we do not have adequate management of our biodiversity.

The ocean receives more than 90% of global warming, it is an unavoidable reality, the connection between the loss of biodiversity and the ocean is very clear, mismanagement of our peat bogs, basins, solid waste, extensive use of agrochemicals, among others, affects the ocean in a great deal, we have carried out studies at the University of Costa Rica in which the presence of micro plastics in marine species is evident, sedimentation causes great losses in the artisanal shellfish sector, also we are affected by the increase in sea level and acidification that endangers millions of species that could guarantee blue jobs, food security and general well-being in coastal communities, which are generally the most affected by climate change.
 
Diego: This is a marvelous initiative, the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR), which encompasses marine management areas of four countries with their core areas; Costa Rica with the "Isla del Coco", Colombia with Malpelo and Gorgona Islands, Ecuador with Galapagos Islands and Panama with Coiba Island. This cluster of marine management areas, the largest of its kind that has an extension of 500,000 square kilometers, an impressive area, rich in biodiversity and life insurance for the entire World.

The CMAR is an effort by this four governments, to protect a biological corridor between these core areas of immense strategic value to guarantee a healthy and prosperous ocean. Since the signing of the Glasgow Declaration at the last COP26, these four countries have increased their ambition by betting on a transboundary marine reserve, the first of its kind in the world with the help of UNESCO, NGOs and philanthropic cooperation to achieve this goal. It is undoubtedly a great regional strategy for proper management of marine resources and their conservation.

The CMAR started in 2001 when Costa Rica and Ecuador signed a joint presidential declaration to study the creation of a corridor that would ensure the connectivity of the species between "Isla del Coco" and the Galapagos Islands, then in 2002, this countries proposed to create the Galapagos-Malpelo-Cocos marine island triangle and in April 2004 the Declaration of San José was signed, officially creating the CMAR and establishing the core areas of the initiative.

The importance of this Corridor, in my opinion, can be divided into 2: 1) generate a large marine management area, which helps us to have a common front to conserve the magnificent biodiversity present in the site and its scenic beauty, but also achieve a common front to alleviate the threats of this great area, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and 2) to be an example worldwide, that when a group of countries manage to create bridges, deal with their differences and set a common goal, the borders mean nothing and that these types of large marine management areas are replicable in many other places on the planet and are necessary to sustain life on the planet as we know it.
Diego: The CMAR evolves, becomes ambitious in its conservation efforts and now intends to become the first Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, a status before UNESCO that could be exemplary, as I mentioned in the previous question. I think this is just the beginning of a "federation" of large marine management areas that will then interconnect to create one gigantic Worldwide marine management area, hopefully surpassing the 30% marine surface protection goal.

I reiterate that this is an example worldwide, a vision that can be replicated in many areas of the world and that if four countries (the CMAR countries) were able, despite our limitations, to find common fronts to conserve and make responsible use of our marine resources there will be a domino effect in the coming years and this vision will be carried to the whole World.
Diego: Costa Rica leads by its example. In just one generation we reversed our deforestation problem and doubled our forest cover, not only that, we have our Payment for Environmental Services (PSA), where we show the world that conservation pays! With a futuristic vision, by 2018 we were already producing all of our electricity with renewable sources and with low emissions. With the great will of our governments, we are protecting almost 27% of our continental territory and at this moment just over 30% of our marine territory.

Not only that, we have a robust agricultural industry that produces with net zero emissions and free from deforestation. It is in our culture to conserve, we are enormously proud of our biodiversity, the new generations are increasingly aware of solid waste management, we have national composting plans, even in some of our municipalities the supplies for composting and education for them is free.
Diego: This involvement between the productive parties and conservation is necessary. Costa Rica has already been a pioneer with our PSA. But now we are going for more, we are expanding our PSA to Payments for Ecosystem Services, we intend to take our PSA to the sea and deepen our nature-based solutions, we intend to pay coastal populations for the collection of plastic in the sea within this scheme of Payment for Environmental Services and we recently launched our Sustainable Landscapes project at the Climate Change COP in Sharm El Sheikh, in accordance with the Glasgow Declaration, to achieve tariff benefits for our agricultural production in recognition of all the effort we have made as a country to achieve agricultural production free of deforestation and with net zero emissions, hoping that more and more companies and agricultural producers will join this initiative, we want to scale our NAMAs program to another level and that this productive dynamic become the normality.

In addition, blue jobs must be created that guarantee the benefit of coastal communities. Although it is true that we are all part of the ocean, there are actors who can play a leading role in the front row in the elimination of plastic in the sea, the restoration and conservation of mangroves, sustainable mariculture, the creation of jobs and of sustainable tourism. Everything is part of a necessary equation for the right balance between conservation and sustainable use.

The role of the private sector is vital to obtain the innovation and technology necessary to provide effective, equitable and efficient protection.