MOPT is finally paving the road between Nosara and Garza, making it a happier “trail” for our community, especially for motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians and people who live next to the road. Dust has gone from an annoyance to a true health hazard as our community has grown, and a paved road surface will bring relief to our human community. However, the local wildlife will not be happy at all.
To make the road the mandatory 14 meters wide, MOPT is cutting down many mature trees. This will have a tremendous impact on the wildlife that call this 10 km stretch of road home. Many of these trees provide food and shelter, while also serving as natural bridges for arboreal wildlife to safely cross the busy road.
After these trees are removed, wildlife such as monkeys, squirrels, kinkajous, tamanduas, raccoons and many other arboreal species will be forced to cross the road on the ground, where they risk being hit by a vehicle or attacked by dogs.
That’s why the Wildlife Crossings Project, a collaboration of Nosara Refuge for Wildlife, Costas Verdes, Harmony Gardens, and NCA, is stepping in. While humans cannot easily replace the threatened species’ lost habitat and food resources, we can help reconnect the ecological islands and provide safe crossing alternatives by installing artificial bridges for the wildlife.
Wildlife Crossings’ primary focus is to re-establish pathways so that arboreal wildlife can move easily and safely across roadways and between NCA parkland, green spaces and maritime zones, through reforestation and bridge installation. The project’s original plan was to make sections G & H the first neighborhoods in the Nosara area that had both safe paths and completely insulated and safe power lines and transformers for arboreal wildlife. Now installing bridges along Route 160 has become the top priority.
The bridge pictured below is made of pvc pipe, rope, and plastic netting commonly known as scaffolding netting or debris netting. The bridges cost approximately 4,000 colones per meter. Because no two bridge locations are the same, each must be measured and each bridge special ordered.
To donate, and to learn more about the project, visit refugeforwildlife.com/wildlife-crossings