For those of you who have enjoyed the wonderful peace of the Osa, FOO (Friends of the Osa needs your help NOW).

I just got this email from Kim at Bosque explaining what is going on. There is an email address in the body of the letter where you can respond to show your support for stopping a huge development and marina.

PLEASE, this is the time for action.


We just got this email from Friends of the Osa (FOO) and we wanted to forward it on to some of our friends that we know love the Osa. Many of you might have already gotten this because you on the FOO mailing list, but we forwarded it because we think this is a really important issue. The Osa is such a special place and megadevelopments are both unrealistic and unbearable to think of out here. Please help answer this call to action and let the world know that we all want to protect this amazing place.
Thanks,
Take care,
Phil & Kim
Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge
Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
www.bosquedelcabo.com
lodge phone: +506-389-2846
Puerto Jimenez office phone/fax: +506-735-5206
----- Original Message -----
From: Friends of the Osa
To: Friends of the Osa
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 1:58 PM
Subject: Help Save Golfo Dulce!

Costa Rica’s Golfo Dulce is threatened by a massive development project. Now is the time to take action!



The proposed project, profiled at www.gmaintl.net, would build:

600 boat slip marina with cruise ship docking
3 golf courses
Multiple hotels
Equestrian center
Luxury homes and condos


The proposed site is a 2,223 acre ranch just outside of Puerto Jiménez owned by Don Santi Ovares. In a recent conversation with Don Santi, he informed us that he has not yet sold the property to the developers.

Last month, the appearance of a website announcing this project caused a stir among the Osa community. This website has now been taken down. This may be in response to complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau for misleading advertising.

If undertaken, the Osa Pointe development will drastically change the Osa and seriously threaten the Golfo Dulce’s unique marine ecosystem. Increased boat traffic, intensified fishing, and pesticide runoff will wreak havoc on the area’s numerous endangered species. Golfo Dulce is frequented by whale sharks, several species of dolphins, and sea turtles. Humpback whale populations from the northern and southern hemispheres meet here to reproduce. The health of Golfo Dulce, furthermore, is vital for local fishermen, piangua clam harvesters, sea kayakers, and eco-tourists drawn to the beauty and productivity of this tropical fjord, one of only four known on the entire planet.

Golfo Dulce can only absorb so much environmental abuse before it is permanently degraded!!!

Now is the time to persuade the developers to shelve this plan and to encourage the Costa Rican authorities to protect Golfo Dulce.

To get involved, please write, call, or email GMA and voice your concerns about the proposed development. Their email address is [email protected]. You can call them at 949-675-9559, or write to them at 2700 Newport Blvd., Newport Beach, CA 92663.

Another way to make your voice heard is to write a respectful e-mail to Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment, the Honorable Roberto Dobles, at [email protected], requesting enhanced protected area status for Golfo Dulce.

With best wishes for the Osa,







Friends of the Osa

www.osaconservation.org



PS – Please feel free to copy us on any emails you send. Doing so will help us gauge the response to this proposed project.

Wow. I just checked the website for the development company. This is for real.

This would be an amazing tragedy. Golfo Dulce is a whale nursery and the Osa is unspoiled. I can't imagine cruise ships, golf courses and huge marinas.

The good news is that things move incredibly slowly in Costa Rica. There is still time to put a stop to this.

Send your Emails and pass the word. This IS important.

Best to all,

Pat Hewitt

Thanks Pat. I am a member of FOO and understand that they have been working on this for awhile.

The paper mill was squashed so hopefully this can be too.

Sent. Depressing.

My first time to BdC they were holding a gathering of many of the FOO founders. Very interesting & committed bunch of people.

I really pray the land owner will not sell, I can't even fathom the destruction this would cause to the area.

My e-mails have been sent as well. I can't imagine anything more tragic. Please keep us informed of anything more we can do. I will be in touch with Kim as well. My husband and I would like to be involved in any way that would be helpful.

Will craft a letter today. Even having only visited once--this is like a punch to the gut. So upsetting! Thanks for passing along so we can at least try and do something before it is too late.

Have sent my emails. This just makes me sick. When we were riding along the bumpy road from BdC, my husband and I both said how sad it would be if developers came into the area. I hope they can be stopped.

Please keep us all posted.

Dear Supporters,

We had an immediate and powerful response to our email about the Osa Pointe project, and we’re gratified by the willingness of so many people to express their concerns about large-scale development of the Osa’s coastline.

Today we were informed that the Osa Pointe website is back online (www.osapointe.com). This website is registered to Todd Enz, who is involved in promoting the Osa Pointe project. In response to our inquiry, GMA International advised us to contact him with questions about the project.

Todd’s email is [email protected], and his phone number is 561-926-2445. Please feel free to communicate your opinions to him directly.

Done and done. I'm trying to top this post again so that every BDC and Lapa Rios and Costa Rica enthusiast will respond!

Thank you again for letting us know what is happening.

Yep, I want to keep this message at the top too! Looked at the website and felt sick - especially hated the reference to the "lifestyle you want."
I'll send off my emails!

Wonder if this Todd Enz has ever been to the Osa? I don't know how anyone who ever has could even consider promoting this project.

I sent emails to the developers and the government and copied the Friends of Osa group. I hope this helps.

This from Kim today. It sounds more hopeful, thank goodness. But I don't think any "friends of the Osa" will EVER be able to lose vigilance:

Thank you so so much for writing those letters. I appreciate it so much. I think we will be able to stop this one. They don't have the money in place to even buy the land ($30 million for the land), so they threw up this website (with pictures from Mexico!) to attract investors. They have put down a deposit for an option to buy the land, but their time expired and the option has run out (thus the new push for investors to get some more money). They don't have permits for any of the stuff they are proposing, but that doesn't seem to stop them from advertising it. That is how we got the website taken down the first time- a complaint of fraudulent advertising to Better Business Bureau. But the website later when back up. But, we are fighting it. Friends of the Osa is just great, they are really working it from all angles. They are also trying to find a conservation buyer and talking to the owner of the land and telling him how we can make part of a park, name it after him (he is in his 80's, no kids), and he will have left a wonderful legacy for the world. I hope he goes for it. I am impressed how many people have joined in the cause. It is awesome to see how many people love the Osa and how many people are willing to give time and money and action to save it. I love feeling like we are part of a larger community of like-minded people. Gives me hope that the Osa can survive and not be overdeveloped like Quepos. To us, it is so important. To Phil and me, the Osa is magical, and I think lots of people feel that way. There are so many places to make golf courses and cruise ship ports- but not here. Not where the jaguars and macaws and whale sharks live. This is a place for nature that we are all just lucky to visit...

What a shock! I have sent my letters.

This sounds like hopeful news from Kim. Want to keep it current so more folks can see the messages. How can we get this chain posted to Costa Rica specific board. (It seems to linger on Latin America.)

Glover,
There isn't a specific Costa Rica Board. I actually like having a mixture because I get to easily see postings about other places. I never get tired of reading about and seeing other countries. It does get a little confusing sometimes though.

Kim mentioned all that the other day when she sent me the original information. I didn't send it out because it did come at the same time as her plea for help and her urgency seemed more about the potential development, which still has a chance of happening. If I had thought the battle was won I wouldn't have treated it with such urgency. Keep those letters going out.

I fell in love with the Osa 14 years ago and I really enjoy reading how others have embraced the need to keep it the way it is. I also feel a great pleasure in reading how people are enjoying the places I have recommended like Bosque del Cabo over the years. Everyone down there is just so committed to protecting that wonderfully diverse area for many more years and generations to come. This is not the first battle to be faced nor will it be the last.

FYI, we also have sent an array of emails in support of Osa. Thanks for giving us all the heads up.

I just saw this, and also sent emails.

I will write to the Ministry too. We are just back from a stay in the beautiful Golfo Dulce. From what I gathered $31 million is the amount needed to purchase enough land to create a wildlife corridor between Corcovado and Piedras Blancas Parks. Wouldn't that be a better use of money than a golfcourse etc? $31 million really is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things when you think of all the wildlife species that would be preserved.....
I was saddened to see the extent of development in many parts of Costa Rica. So many people going down to buy condos etc with little regard for any environmental impact.

Guys, have you heard anymore news about osa? Sending letters daily.

E.