San José, Costa Rica – Nov. 17th – The First Regional Forum for youths from the Costarican Caribbean coast “Climate Change and youth leadership: actions for the future”, was held on November 10th and 11th 2012, executed by Manos a la Costa Project, with the support of the European Union.

This forum was organized by the Foundation for Peace and Democracy (FUNPADEM), the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio), the Area de Conservación de Tortuguero (ACTo), the Consejo de la Persona Joven (CPJ) and EARTH University, and was attended by 110 young people from six cantons of Limón, the communities of Tortuguero, Barra del Colorado, Talamanca, Guácimo, Pococí, and young representatives from Sarapiqui.

Manos a la Costa Project has an interest in fostering the involvement of youths for the generation of proposals and actions to address the effects of climate change in their communities. These young people are living in communities which have been identified by specialists as very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Sylvia Chaves, deputy director of Manos a la costa explained “Youths are an engine of change; they can and they should influence the policies of their countries to assert their right to a healthy environment. A first step to foster their actions is to incorporate into their agendas the climate change issue. Manos a la Costa promote an easy way to understand the impact of this phenomenon, how climate change affects the services provided by the ecosystems, the welfare of young people, the environment and communities in general.”

Meanwhile, Kenneth Carpio, director of the CPJ said: “youth who participated in this forum are committing their work for the environment”, while Maria Elena Herrera, manager of ACTo acknowledged “with great effort we were able to bring youths from Barra del Colorado and Tortuguero. They are the ones who can help their communities on addressing the effects of climate change.”

At the end of the forum, the youth were motivated to build a network in the Caribbean, which will enable them to implement initiatives at the local level, but also at a provincial level. Luis Manuel Torres, from Tortuguero, said: “Climate change is a very important issue for the coasts, and we look forward to help our communities and the planet.”

As a result of this forum, the participants signed the Declaration of Guácimo, which pledged to promote different actions for the environment and to reduce the effects of climate change. Additionally, due to the advocacy of Manos a la costa Project, the CPJ included within their work populations in Limón, the communities of Barra del Colorado and Tortuguero, which will support the process for strengthening youth leadership in these communities.

About Manos a la costa

Manos a la Costa is a regional project that seeks to develop adaptation and mitigation actions in fourteen communities at the Central American Coasts. The Project is executed by FUNPADEM and INBio with the economic support of the European Union.

For more information

Fabio Víquez
[email protected]
2283-9435 ext 107

Laura Gómez
[email protected]
2283-9435 ext 107

Some commitments from the Declaration of Guácimo:

-Incorporate into their work plans, integral concepts of climate change, in order to promote and establish behavior patterns, that helps on mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

-Promote the active participation of young people in actions to reduce climate change effects.

-Encourage local and regional dialogue, which allows the inclusion of youth’s points of view for the development and implementation of policies on adaptation and mitigation to climate change.

-Promote the active participation of young people to generate actions that help inform to their communities about the implications of climate change.