Sink or Swim: Protecting and Restoring Key Mangrove Habitats for Juvenile Shark Species in the Golfo Dulce Hope Spot, Costa Rica

October 17, 2023

Golfo Dulce is one of only four tropical fjords in the world and is located on the Pacific coast of southern Costa Rica. Its warm, clear waters are home to an impressive array of marine life and play an important role in sustaining a number of critically important ecosystems.

 

 

Mission Blue designated the area a Hope Spot in 2019, in support of establishing official protection from the Costa Rican government to prevent the illegal fishing of scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) in the gulf. Research conducted by local conservation organization Misión Tiburón’, suggests that the area is an important nursery ground for the Eastern Tropical Pacific population of the Critically Endangered scalloped hammerhead shark.

 

Ilena Zanella, Hope Spot Champion and Co-founder, Misión Tiburón, says, “To protect migratory species, it is necessary to integrate conservation efforts into every phase of their life cycle.”  

 

 

 

Misión Tiburón was founded by passionate marine biologists and Hope Spot Champions, Ilena Zanella and Andres Lopez, who are on a mission to protect and conserve the ocean and the wildlife it holds, through education and scientific research.

The Hope Spots team was able to catch up with the Champions recently to find out what the organization has been busy with over the last year.

 

 

Ilena and Andres were excited to tell us about the mangrove restoration project they have embarked on. The mangroves that line the coastline in the Golfo Dulce area have been heavily degraded due to sea level rise, erosion and sedimentation. These mangrove ecosystems are important nursery grounds for many marine species, including a number of threatened sharks. The Golfo Dulce Hope Spot is home to five Critically Endangered shark species: scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini), great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran), scoophead (Sphyrna media), scalloped bonnethead (Sphyrna corona), and the Pacific smalltail (Carcharhinus cerdale), two Endangered species: Pacific nurse shark (Ginglymostoma unami), and the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), and two Vulnerable species: Pacific sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon longurio) and the blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus).

 

“Oceans with sharks are healthy oceans, this is my vision for the future”, says Zanella.

 

 

Recognizing the important role these mangroves play as a nursery ground for the juvenile stages of these species, the services they provide to the local communities and the part they play as carbon sinks to combat the effects of climate change, Misión Tiburón have embarked on a project which aims to restore 20 hectares of the mangrove habitat in the area. By working with local stakeholders, the Misión Tiburón team have identified the causes of degradation across different sections of the mangrove forest and selected the most cost-effective strategies to restore each area.

 

 

The restoration project has involved local fishers that live on the boundaries of the mangroves and has provided them with an alternative livelihood opportunity based on a blue carbon economy. Ilena, Andres and their team are huge advocates for engaging and empowering local leaders and stakeholders as this is a key piece of the puzzle when embarking on projects that involve the participation of local communities.

 

 

The Misión Tiburón team have also been promoting the empowerment of vulnerable sectors of society. In the Golfo Dulce region, around half of the population is classified as living in poverty. The team have been busy providing training and personal development opportunities to women in the area, with the hope that this will improve their social economic opportunities in the future. Once such group “The Mujeres Martillo” or “Hammerhead Shark Ladies”, is made up of 20 local women who have been provided with the skills and training needed to produce elaborate handmade products inspired by the hammerhead shark. They have also been involved in conservation actions and educational programs. The income generated from their products is utilized to help support the formal education of girls in need in the community.

 

 

For more than a decade, Misión Tiburón have been working in Golfo Dulce to promote environmental education, provide training to government institutions on marine-resource protection, reduce fisheries by-catch and establish community-based shark sanctuaries. Thanks to this work, the organization has built alliances and strategies to involve a range of stakeholders which has led to informed, educated and empowered communities. The organization prides itself on providing opportunities to the most vulnerable groups in society whilst also reconnecting them with nature.

 

Watch the video below to learn more about the organization’s environmental education work in their local communities.