The Minister of Environment, Franz Tattenbach defended what he called “advances” in the Marine Environmental Services program and assured that in July they will begin with the formalization of contracts with the beneficiaries.
According to Tattenbach, 296 mollusk gatherers have been identified in 11 associations, who will receive money for their role in taking care of the mollusks.He detailed that studies have been carried out and licenses for the sustainable management of mollusks have been granted.
“We are moving forward, in the next month we will be starting with the contracts and subsequent payments for the management of mollusks in Costa Rica,” he said on Friday.
Tattenbach’s reaction arises from a note published where it is recalled that last year, the minister indicated that they would start with the disbursements in December 2023. He said that what was published was false, but later accepted that they have not yet proceeded with the payments.He made his statements during the inauguration of “Immersed in Change”, which is being held at the Convention Center.
What did he say?
Last year, Tattenbach indicated that they had already counted about 300 people in the Nicoya Peninsula, given that this area is where approximately 25% of the mangroves are located.
“I think we are going to design it around the sustainable use of mangroves, of which Minae and Incopesca have already given the first permits, they have been working on that for many years,” he said, whose article was published in October.
Eight months ago he guaranteed the economic resources for the payment of a maximum of $5 million, coming from two sources.One of them from part of the Earthsoot Prize awarded by the United Kingdom on October 17, 2021 for $1.3 million.
At that time Costa Rica was awarded for its Payment for Environmental Services (PES) initiative for communities and farm owners started in 1997.The other source of money comes from the Blue Fund, which would amount to $2 million.
It is worth remembering that in July 2023, Rodrigo Chaves, President of the Republic, traveled to Europe and took advantage of an event to request resources to finance this program.
“Similarly, international cooperation resources can be directed towards innovative projects, such as the Payment for Marine Environmental Services, which we will implement in my country this year,” said Chaves at the Celac-EU summit, in front of European and Latin American leaders as well as international delegations and delegations.
Now
On May 29, the Minister stated that the reason for the delay in payment was related to economic aspects. He reiterated, however, that the same resources were available as those set out in 2023.
“We are about to announce it. You know that these things sometimes take longer. We are about to start a program with the resources that had been announced and with the commitment of the Ministry of Finance”, he stated.
Regarding the attraction of funds from European countries, he indicated that they have not been able to close any donation because “We have not really looked for much because we were counting on the World Bank Program Fund”.
