45 Members of National Emergency Groups Planted 240 Corals in Costa Rican Waters

A group of 45 members of emergency groups carried out a work of planting 240 corals in the waters adjacent to the Chora Island area in Playa Sámara de Nicoya where other similar efforts were previously carried out in 2018 and 2020.

On this occasion, a team of representatives from the Judicial Investigation Agency, Red Cross, Tourist Police, Public Force Reserve, Nicoya Public Force, Nosara Volunteer Firefighters and the Flamingo Coast Guard Station were involved in the marine conservation effort.

According to Massimo Gambari, Chief of the Public Force Reserve in Guanacaste, a total of 14 expert divers took part in the planting of the corals, while the rest of the work team was in charge of other tasks such as creating the lines that were then taken to the bottom of the sea in a special structure so that they would then multiply over time so that after about four years they would acquire the size similar to an apple.

Prior to the planting of corals, an informative talk was held in the community hall of Playa Sámara. “This is a project that has been growing as time has passed, bringing together 45 people for this initiative is not easy; For this reason, we consider that the call had an extraordinary response that will help us a lot in the future,” said Gambari.

The Corales Project

The initiative to protect marine resources is part of the Corales Project developed by the Corales Project Association (APC) that operates in Playa Sámara. Carlos Pérez, Regent Biologist of the APC, indicated that they hope to hold similar events “often with all the forces of the country.”

“I have to highlight the progress we are making every year with this initiative that has managed to gather the interest of environmental groups and public institutions, as well as private companies,” Pérez added.

Corals of the Pociloporidea family (Lamarck, 18169 – like those planted at Playa Sámara – play a crucial role in the formation of underwater habitats; in addition, many species of fish, invertebrates and other marine organisms depend on them for shelter, food and reproduction.

Great day

The planting of corals was carried out in parallel with the recreational mountain biking event Safety on Our Coasts organized by the Nicoya Public Force with the support of the Sámara Beach Tourism Chamber (CTPS).

Xavi Palomar, President of the CTPS, highlighted that in recent months “Sámara has made great progress in the field of citizen security thanks to a rapprochement and permanent collaboration with the Ministry of this field.” The different emergency groups from various institutions were involved in the environmental effort to protect the seabed.

“We are beginning efforts to achieve a major remodeling at the Samara police station, on this point we will very soon have good news for the benefit of an entire community that forms a single team to move forward in this field,” Palomar highlighted.

The planting of corals on Isla Chora was preceded by a workshop held in the community hall of Playa Sámara where specialists on the subject provided technical information about the importance of protecting corals, optimal conditions for reproduction, characteristics of the species and form suitable to proceed to locate them on the seabed.