This is the first time in history that a Costa Rican government complies with what is established in the Ley Orgánica del Ambiente of 1995 (Organic Law of the Environment) by presenting the State of the Environment Report, a document that provides a common frame of information to address environmental topics by sectors and in a comprehensive way, with the purpose of providing a diagnosis of the state of the environment and identifying the activities and events that generate pressure and impact over the same, as well as the biggest challenges to address in the near future.

The findings shown in this document put in evidence two key factors that must be addressed: on one hand, the fact that the economic inequity is affecting the use of natural resources; and on the other hand, the unavoidable obligation of transforming our habits and consumption patterns in order to ensure the conservation of these resources”, indicated Edgar Gutierrez Espeleta, Minister of Environment and Energy.

The report is divided in five chapters and contains the analysis of close to 56 topics. More than 30 investigators were involved in the elaboration of the report and consultations were made to more than 90 organizations and institutions to discuss and validate the findings of the report.

We mention just a few of the findings referenced in the report:

-Between 1990 and 2005 the temperature in most regions of the country has increased.
-The annual average of rainfall has also increased
-The country has 1.4 million vehicles and the transportation sector uses 67% of the total fuel imported.
-Septic tanks are used as a solution by 76.4% of the houses in the country
-90% of the beaches have been evaluated as excellent or of great quality
-By 2008 the import and use of pesticides in the country reached 13 million kilograms a year.
-In 2015 a 10% of the territory presents erosion problems which also affects water bodies with the wash up of sediments.
-There are 350 wetlands that cover 7% of the territory.
-The country has a network of distribution of water unlike any other in the region that covers 91.8% of the homes.