An important wildlife habitat

One might think - as Costa Rican government officials (from the municipality of Golfito and... believe it or not... the ministry for energy and the environment) overseeing the said development at Preciosa and Platanares beaches clearly did - what difference do a bunch of outsized spiny pineapples make? Well, apart from their intrinsic natural beauty, and the fact these plants help to buffer the coastline, Bromelia plumieri (Bromeliaceae) forms dense, at times almost unpenetrable stands, creating a micro-habitat that provides shelter and protection to a variety of local fauna, such as this fabulous Black Iguana (Ctenosaura similis) known locally as "Garoba", that we found amidst one of the mountains of now destroyed bromeliads.

Flowers of Bromelia plumieri

This is a gorgeous image showing the bright magenta inflorescence and dusky pink flowers of Bromelia plumieri (Bromeliaceae). This plant is known locally as “Piñuela” or “Piro”.

Bromelia plumieri

The battle to get to the bottom of what happened last week at the Preciosa and Platanares beaches continues. For our part, we are developing information about the flora of this unique habitat and hope to make this, and other site-based ecology files, available via our official LCO website. This is not going to change the unnecessary damage that has already been done, but could help to prevent similar ocurrances elsewhere in the future. This image shows the impressive stands of Bromelia plumieri (Bromeliaceae), which are a distinctive element of the coastal ecosystem in this particular location. It is just one of a number of plant species that were affected last week, when the Municipality of Golfito cleared out vast swathes of the local vegetation in order to make way for what, from the size of it, looks to be a future highway on the beachfront.

No tan preciosa!

We spent the day checking out the damage done by the municipality of Golfito during the past couple of days at Playa Preciosa, an important wildlife habitat and one of our favourite beach spots on the Peninsula. We hope to follow this post with more information shortly, so watch this space!