The Manuel Antonio National Park unveiled a 164-meter-long accessible walkway made of plastic caps as raw material. 30 tons of plastic were collected and processed in order to construct this boardwalk. This new innovation will make it possible for persons with limited mobility to visit the beach.
The park, which is located in the canton of Quepos in the Puntarenas province, is regarded as one of Costa Rica’s most valuable jewels due to its paradisiacal coastline.
Manuel Antonio is now more inclusive and accessible, thanks to the ProParks Association. In 2019, the Association constructed Costa Rica’s first two universally accessible pathways in Carara and Santa Rosa National Parks, as well as the country’s first accessible beach in a protected area in Cahuita National Park.
According to Roco Echeverri, Director of the ProParks Association, “the initiative to collect bottle caps is a way to reuse a material that not all recyclers acquire and unfortunately ends up in rivers and oceans.” This raw material provides us with the option to produce plastic wood, which is critical to our endeavor.”
The Association is a non-profit organization comprised of academics, environmentalists, and business people that share a commitment to the future sustainability of Costa Rica’s National Parks. They carry out initiatives ranging from increasing park ranger abilities to creating and implementing technology platforms to enhance tourist experiences and create infrastructure.
“We find in this initiative the right combination between recycling and inclusion,” said Rafael Gutiérrez, executive director of the National System of Conservation Regions. “This is a pending issue and a responsibility as a country to solve accessible at all levels in our protected wild areas.”
This initiative also includes the provision of an amphibious chair to allow those with impairments to fully and securely enter the sea. A young kid with a handicap who had never been in the sea before utilized the chair. His family got involved in the bottle cap collection drive and were overjoyed to see him gain the chance to swim in the water for the first time.
Reference:
Afp. “Tico Times.” The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate. 19 Feb. 2022. Web. 27 Mar. 2022. <https://ticotimes.net/>
