The close to 300 people that were in the limits of the Corcovado National Park in the Osa Peninsula since last Sunday and that threatened to enter the park, left voluntarily and peacefully after sustaining conversations with different Government officials.

Authorities from the Ministry of Public Security, the Osa Conservation Area and the Presidency, held a meeting with the gold miners and listened to their concerns and the reasons of their presence at the park, the majority of the people properly identified themselves and said they are part of the Association of Former Miners of the Osa Peninsula.

The government reaffirmed their intentions of keeping the dialogue open and agreed to check the existent list of former gold miners of the Osa Peninsula and analyze together with the members of congress the viability of Law Project No. 18.912 “Law for the classification of the condition and authorization to The Southern Zone Regional Development Board (JUDESUR) to pay former gold miners evicted from the Corcovado National Park and Piedras Blancas in the Osa Peninsula not yet compensated”. This project intends to help those people that used to work extracting gold in the area before the creation of the park in 1975.

In addition to this, the Government will maintain communication with the group to inform on the progress of the social projects associated and the next actions that will take place.

Edgar Gutiérrez, Minister of Environment and Energy, reiterated the commitment of the current administration to protect the integrity of the Wildlife Protected Areas and contribute with quality of life improvement and wellness of the nearby communities. The Minister had stated Sunday that some of the people claiming compensations were not even born when the park was created.

Police Force and authorities of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) will maintain the area under surveillance to ensure no one enters the park without authorization.