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Costa Rica Loses Ocean Award Amid Shark Conservation Controversy

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Thursday, July 10, 2025

Following recent statements by Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment, Franz Tattenbach, international organizations Fins Attached and Marine Watch International, in association with the Rob Stewart Sharkwater Foundation, have announced the revocation of the 2024 Oceans Advocate Rob Stewart Award, which had been presented to Costa Rica in November of last year. The decision follows Tattenbach’s remarks describing the organizations’ post-award cooperation proposal as “blackmail.” He stated, “No aceptamos premios internacionales condicionados,” emphasizing that Costa Rica’s environmental policy “is not for sale.” In response, the organizations accused the minister of failing to honor commitments made during the award process. These included advancing marine conservation through technological and scientific cooperation, protecting critical marine habitats, and strengthening protections for endangered species like hammerhead sharks. “Promises made by the minister were not only broken but abandoned,” the organizations stated. “Meaningful recognition must be earned through demonstrable action and accountability.” Fins Attached rejected the “blackmail” characterization, clarifying that their proposal was a good-faith offer of scientific and logistical support to advance marine conservation. The revocation adds to growing criticism of Costa Rica’s marine policies, with a 2024 Environment Ministry report highlighting a 15% decline in marine biodiversity since 2018, attributed partly to lax fishing regulations. The organizations also cited a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which identifies Costa Rica as the top Latin American exporter of shark fins to Asian markets between 2003 and 2020, with over 5,600 metric tons exported. In 2025, the Center for the Rescue of Endangered Marine Species (CREMA) denounced the authorization of 12.6 tons of hammerhead shark fins transferred from Nicaragua through Costa Rica for re-export between September 2023 and September 2024. Minister Tattenbach has since stated that the Executive Branch has begun including a ban on the transit of hammerhead sharks and their parts through Costa Rican territory, aiming to prevent the country from being used as a trafficking route for hammerhead sharks. The post Costa Rica Loses Ocean Award Amid Shark Conservation Controversy appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

The decision follows Tattenbach’s remarks describing the organizations’ post-award cooperation proposal as “blackmail.” He stated, “No aceptamos premios internacionales condicionados,” emphasizing that Costa Rica’s environmental policy “is not for sale.”

In response, the organizations accused the minister of failing to honor commitments made during the award process. These included advancing marine conservation through technological and scientific cooperation, protecting critical marine habitats, and strengthening protections for endangered species like hammerhead sharks.

“Promises made by the minister were not only broken but abandoned,” the organizations stated. “Meaningful recognition must be earned through demonstrable action and accountability.”

Fins Attached rejected the “blackmail” characterization, clarifying that their proposal was a good-faith offer of scientific and logistical support to advance marine conservation. The revocation adds to growing criticism of Costa Rica’s marine policies, with a 2024 Environment Ministry report highlighting a 15% decline in marine biodiversity since 2018, attributed partly to lax fishing regulations.

The organizations also cited a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which identifies Costa Rica as the top Latin American exporter of shark fins to Asian markets between 2003 and 2020, with over 5,600 metric tons exported. In 2025, the Center for the Rescue of Endangered Marine Species (CREMA) denounced the authorization of 12.6 tons of hammerhead shark fins transferred from Nicaragua through Costa Rica for re-export between September 2023 and September 2024.

Minister Tattenbach has since stated that the Executive Branch has begun including a ban on the transit of hammerhead sharks and their parts through Costa Rican territory, aiming to prevent the country from being used as a trafficking route for hammerhead sharks.

The post Costa Rica Loses Ocean Award Amid Shark Conservation Controversy appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Read the full story here.

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More than half of world’s bird species in decline, as leaders meet on extinction crisis

Biodiversity losses are growing, the IUCN reports as summit opens, but green turtle’s recovery ‘reminds us conservation works’More than half of all bird species are in decline, according to a new global assessment, with deforestation driving sharp falls in populations across the planet.On the eve of a key biodiversity summit in the UAE, scientists have issued a fresh warning about the health of bird populations, with 61% of assessed species now recording declines in their numbers. Continue reading...

More than half of all bird species are in decline, according to a new global assessment, with deforestation driving sharp falls in populations across the planet.On the eve of a key biodiversity summit in the UAE, scientists have issued a fresh warning about the health of bird populations, with 61% of assessed species now recording declines in their numbers.From Schlegel’s asity in Madagascar to the tail-bobbing northern nightingale-wren in Central America, many bird species have lost habitat to expanding agriculture and human development. Just nine years ago, 44% of assessed bird species had declining populations, according to the red list of endangered species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).Dr Ian Burfield, BirdLife’s global science coordinator, who helped oversee the assessment, said: “That three in five of the world’s bird species have declining populations shows how deep the biodiversity crisis has become and how urgent it is that governments take the actions they have committed to under multiple conventions and agreements.”It comes as hundreds of conservationists gather in Abu Dhabi on Friday for the IUCN’s congress, where the fate of many of the world’s most at-risk wildlife species will be discussed. In the face of global headwinds on environmental action, scientists are urging governments to deliver on recent pledges to better protect nature.Birds play an important role in ecosystems, helping to pollinate flowers, disperse seeds and control pests. Hornbills – which are found across the tropics – can spread up to 12,700 large seeds a day in a square kilometre.Dr Malin Rivers, head of conservation prioritisation at the Botanic Gardens Conservation International, said: “The fates of birds and trees are intertwined: trees depend on birds for regeneration and birds depend on trees for survival.”The green sea turtle’s recovery “reminds us that conservation works”, said the IUCN director general, Dr Grethel Aguilar. Once classified as endangered, it is now viewed as a species of least concern due to conservation efforts. The turtles’s numbers have grown by 28% since the 1970s thanks to greater protection for nest sites in Ascension Island, Brazil, Mexico and Hawaii.A Pacific green sea turtle cruising off Hawaii. The recovery of the species shows what global conservation efforts can achieve, experts say. Photograph: Chris Strickland/AlamyRoderic Mast, co-chair of IUCN’s species survival commission marine turtle specialist group, said the green turtle’s recovery was “a powerful example of what coordinated global conservation over decades can achieve to stabilise and even restore populations of long-lived marine species”.But there was bad news for Arctic seals, which scientists warn are drifting closer to extinction due to global heating. The loss of sea ice has seen population numbers for bearded and harp seals fall sharply. Thinning sea ice means that the Artic seals are finding it more difficult to find areas to rest and breed. They are a critical prey species for polar bears, which researchers fear will also be affected by the loss.Dr Kit Kovacs, Svalbard programme leader at the Norwegian Polar Institute, said: “Each year in Svalbard, the retreating sea ice reveals how threatened Arctic seals have become, making it harder for them to breed, rest and feed.“Their plight is a stark reminder that climate change is not a distant problem – it has been unfolding for decades and is having impacts here and now.”Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage.

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Would a ban on genetic engineering of wildlife hamper conservation?

Some conservation groups are calling for an effective ban on genetic modification, but others say these technologies are crucial for preserving biodiversity

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An IUCN moratorium on synthetic biology would have no legal force, but it could still have far-reaching effects. For instance, many conservation organisations might stop funding work involving genetic engineering, and some countries could make such a ban part of national laws. “The moratorium would certainly be problematic on many levels,” says Ben Novak at Revive & Restore, a US-based non-profit that aims to use biotechnologies to rescue endangered and extinct species. Why is this happening now? In a word, CRISPR. In 2014, it was shown that CRISPR gene-editing technology can be used to create gene drives – basically, a piece of DNA that gets passed down to all offspring, rather than the usual half. This means a gene drive can spread even if it is harmful and could, in theory, be used to wipe out invasive species. Gene drives could also be used to spread beneficial traits, such as disease resistance. 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