For Immediate Release, June 9, 2025
Contact: Todd Steiner, Founder & Special Projects, +1(415)488-7652 TSteiner@seaturtles.org
Ken Bouley Executive Director, KBouley@seaturtles.org
Joanie Steinhaus, Ocean Program Director, Joanie@seaturtles.org
Scientists, Environmental Organizations and Thousands of Citizens Call on Costa Rica for Action to Protect Endangered Species and UN Biosphere Reserves: Costa Rica is a Co-Sponsor of the UN Ocean Conference Occurring This Week in Nice, France
NICE, FRANCE – As delegates from nations, non-governmental organizations, and scientists gather at the UN Oceans Conference this week in Nice, France, there is growing international pressure on Costa Rica to complete the Cocos–Galápagos Swimway – a critical no-take marine protected area (MPA) that safeguards endangered sharks and sea turtles migrating between the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador and Cocos Island National Park in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is a co-sponsor of the week-long UN meeting, making this a pivotal moment for the nation to reaffirm its environmental leadership.
For several years, a coalition of environmental advocates and marine scientists has pushed for the creation of the Swimway to connect two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves through a protected migration corridor. Studies by MigraMar, a scientific research group working in the region, have tracked at least six species of sharks and sea turtles – including endangered hammerheads and leatherbacks – moving between these biodiversity hotspots, which are geologically linked by an underwater mountain range. The two parks are separated by 396 miles, so that the entire swath falls within the two nations economic exclusive zone, the 200-mile distance each nation controls from its shores.
“This is one of the most important actions necessary to protect migrating endangered sea turtles and sharks in the Eastern Pacific,” said Todd Steiner, ecologist and founder of Turtle Island Restoration Network, an international ocean advocacy organization. “While usual Park boundary protections work for ‘stay at home’ species, they ignore the needs of highly migratory species like hammerhead sharks and leatherback sea turtles that face extinction due to commercial fishing operations.”
In 2022, Ecuador stepped up and expanded its no-take MPA to the edge of its national waters, fully protecting its portion of the Swimway. This bold action followed an international advocacy campaign led by Turtle Island Restoration Network, which included a prominent advertisement in The New York Times calling for regional marine protection. Now, the campaign has landed in Nice with the same strategy – using public pressure and media visibility to urge Costa Rica to fulfill its part of the promise.
In a show of growing national awareness, one of the Swimway campaign’s champions published an Op-Ed in Delfino.cr, a major Costa Rican publication, earlier this week. The piece, titled “La Migravía Cocos-Galápagos: Un legado para Costa Rica y el mundo,” highlights how the proposed marine corridor would serve as a lasting legacy for both global biodiversity and Costa Rican conservation. Read the Op-Ed here.
“The concept of protecting migration route swimways was first proposed by TIRN to protect the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle along the U.S. Gulf Coast more than 20 years ago,” said Joanie Steinhaus, TIRN’s Ocean Program Director. “That early work helped reduce fishing impacts and contributed to the species’ ongoing recovery. We know this approach works.”
“We need Costa Rica to act to protect these internationally important biological hotspots,” said Bouley. “That can only be accomplished by ensuring iconic and keystone species survive not just within park borders, but throughout their entire migratory route.”
“We urge Costa Rica to complete the Cocos–Galápagos Swimway this week and build on its celebrated record of terrestrial conservation,” added Steiner. “It’s time to extend that legacy to the ocean, and to do so in a way that reflects modern science and the reality of migratory marine life.”
Media resources are available here https://seaturtles.org/scientists-environmental-organizations-and-thousands-of-citizens-call-on-costa-rica-for-action-to-protect-endangered-species-and-un-biosphere-reserves: For more information on the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway campaign and to take action with us, visit www.seaturtles.org/the-cocos-galapagos-swimway.
Turtle Island Restoration Network is a global ocean conservation nonprofit with offices in California and Texas, whose mission is to inspire and mobilize people around the world to protect marine biodiversity, the oceans and watersheds that sustain all life on Earth.
