Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper es parte de un movimiento mundial que inició en 1966

Somos una organización sin fines de lucro creada recientemente en nuestro país, miembro de la Alianza Waterkeeper, una alianza de más de 240 organizaciones guardianes del agua alrededor del mundo. Esta Alianza agrupa a personas que se comprometen a luchar por tener agua apta para tomar, para nadar y para pescar.

La Alianza Waterkeeper empezó en 1966 en el Río Hudson en los Estados Unidos al unirse un grupo de pescadores locales para salvar el río formando la Asociación de Pescadores del Río Hudson. Estos pescadores lucharon fervientemente por hacer cumplir la ley con el apoyo de la ciudadanía, así lograron proteger su río, su fuente de ingresos y la salud de sus familias. Enfrentaron
a muchas de las compañías industriales contaminadoras y ganaron.

Santa Teresa, Costa Rica:  Photo - Carlos Palacios

En 1983, contrataron al primer guardián del agua Waterkeeper del Hudson para patrullar el río, restaurar la pesca y liderar la lucha de la sociedad civil por el cumplimiento de las leyes ambientales. Desde ese momento, el Hudson Riverkeeper ha hecho justicia forzando a los contaminadores a invertir cientos de millones de dólares en restaurar la salud del río Hudson. Su éxito estimuló el crecimiento de iniciativas comunitarias similares a nivel mundial. En 1999 se fundó la Alianza Waterkeeper para apoyar estas iniciativas. 

Hoy, la Alianza Waterkeeper es un movimiento ambientalista que crece rápidamente con más de 240 organizaciones guardianes del agua Waterkeeper protegiendo ríos, lagos y aguas costeras alrededor del mundo. El logro que más nos enorgullece es el haber alcanzado tan amplia cobertura a través de nuestras organizaciones, manteniendo una clara unidad de visión que lucha por agua limpia con el fuerte apoyo de sus comunidades.

El equipo de la Alianza ha guiado a muchas organizaciones a través del proceso para convertirse en organizaciones Waterkeeperen los Estados Unidos y en otras partes del mundo.

La organización comunitaria del pueblo está en Plaza Kahuna, Santa Teresa. Pasen a hablar, conocer lo que hacemos y ver si podemos ayudarle de alguna forma para su casa o negocio.

Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper is Part of a Global Movement Started in 1966

The Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper not-for-profit organization was launched only in 2013, but is part of the global Waterkeeper Alliance that has been growing since the 1960s. 

This huge grass roots community can be found in 240 places around the world. It is made up of people in towns and villages on several continents, all of whom believe in fighting for their right to drinkable, swimmable, fishable and surfable waters.

The Waterkeeper Alliance was started in 1966 on the Hudson river in the US by local fishermen who united to save their river and formed the Hudson River Fishermen’s Association. These fishermen recognized that outspoken, citizen-led advocacy was the only way to ensure that laws were enforced and their river, livelihood and the health of
their families were protected. They took on many of the nation’s biggest industrial polluters and won.

Keep Our Waters Clean - Photo by Carlos Palacios

In 1983, they hired the first full-time Hudson Riverkeeper to patrol the river, to restore its abundant fisheries and to lead citizen-based enforcement of environmental laws. Since those early days, Hudson Riverkeeper has brought hundreds of polluters to justice and forced them to spend hundreds of millions of dollars restoring the Hudson to health. Their success spurred an explosive growth of similar grassroots programs across the globe, and in 1999 Waterkeeper Alliance was founded to support these programs.

Today, Waterkeeper Alliance is the world’s fastest growing environmental movement, with over 240 Waterkeeper Organizations protecting rivers, lakes and coastal waterways on six continents. The Alliance's proudest accomplishment is the depth and breadth of its member organizations and the unity of their vision for clean water and strong communities.

The Support team has helped many prospective Waterkeeper organizations through the proposal process and has networked with a number of grassroots water advocacy groups both domestically and internationally.

Your grassroots, community-based waterkeeper organisation is found in Plaza Kahuna, Santa Teresa. Please stop by for a chat and to learn more about what we do and how we can help your home or business.

Join the Fight to Keep our Waters Clean!!

Sea turtle off the coast of Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica - photo by Carlos Palacios

"The fight for clean water is a fight for one of the most basic and essential human rights."  

The Waterkeeper Alliance

We all know that water in our town is a BIG issue.  Oftentimes in summer we have none.  But even more important than the drought of summer, is the year-round concern of the contamination of our waters.

In a town that has developed and grown so quickly we face the problem of pollution from untreated grey waters (both from homes and from businesses), and even in some cases of raw sewage, seeping into our ground water, into our rivers and out to sea.  

To compound it all, we face a lack of awareness of the issues, as
well as a lack of monitoring and enforcement from the governmental institutions charged with the protection of our environment.  

But there is no need to despair!  

There is a lot that can be done to promote change and to support the protection of our waters.  And that is why the Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeepers are here!

Who Are the Waterkeepers? 

The Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper (NPWK) is a non-profit organization, that is a member of the WaterkeeperAlliance, a global network of more than 200 Waterkeeper Organizations dedicated to cleaning up rivers, lakes and coasts through grassroots action.  The vision of the Waterkeeper Movement is for swimmable, drinkable, fishable waterways worldwide.   

Our organization has been set up here in Santa Teresa with the following mission:

• To raise awareness of the water pollution issues that we face in our town and the surrounding areas; 

• To help correct practices that are contaminating our water and restore water quality - through research, fieldwork, education and practical assistance; 

• To campaign and pressure governmental institutions to fulfill their obligations in the monitoring and enforcement of Costa Rica's environmental laws.   

We exist to fight for the protection of the water that we drink, as well as the water that we swim and surf in.  

Become a Waterkeeper!

Join the fight to keep our waters clean by becoming a member of the Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper! 

Over the last year we have launched a number of projects in and around town.  In the blog posts that follow we will let you know about these and how you can get involved.   

In the meantime, please support us by following us on Facebook and visiting our website.  Or come visit us at Plaza Kahuna, Santa Teresa, to find out how you can help.  

Without water there is no life!