Around 110 volunteers sponsored by private companies and government institutions cleaned the Tárcoles River on Friday under the coordination of Bridgestone of Costa Rica (BSCR)
Tárcoles has for a long time been known as the ”wheel river” because of the enormous amount of tire waste that has been lying and floating around along the river. At the end of Friday, volunteers had collected 1,800 tires and transferred them to the Ecological Foundation for Recycling Scrap Tire and Rubber, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing alternatives for a more proper disposal of these materials.
The Tárcoles river has a mangrove that is valuable to the richness of Costa Rica’s biodiversity, and the river and the area surrounding it also serves as a refugee for 300 species of birds including hawks and eagles, and terrestrial animals such as crocodiles, green crabs and monkeys.
Therefore, BSCR found it necessary to clean up the area with the help of around 110 volunteers and the support from various companies and government institutions such as, among others, the Municipality of Garabito.
“The public health policies and the conservation of flora and fauna of the country are priority issues for BSCR. By cleaning the river Tárcoles, we have supported these key areas and put our commitment to the country into practice,” says the President of BSCR, Oscar Rodriguez.
BSCR hopes that the clean up that has been done in the area of Tárcoles will raise awareness locally and nationally and create an attitude of protection.