Costa Rica Reloaded: How a developing country returned to the IWC

Aimee Leslie 1,3 and Damin Martnez-Fernndez 2,3

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International Fund for Animal Welfare IFAW Tecoyititla No. 274, Col. Florida Mexico D.F. (2) Fundacin KETO 1735-1002 San Jos, Costa Rica (3) Coalicin Costarricense por las Ballenas dmartinez@fundacionketo.org The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the only entity that has authority over whale management and conservation worldwide. Costa Rica became a member of the IWC in 1981, but stopped being an active participant a short time thereafter. In 1989, Costa Rica lost its voting rights due to unpaid debts. This situation continued until 2006, when in the 58th reunion of the IWC, in Saint Kitts and Nevis, the pro-whaling group were able to create a declaration that defied the moratorium, by the difference of only one vote. That is how an opposition movement was born in Costa Rica. By the end of 2006, Greenpeace called on nine local NGOs and four international ones, to form the Costarican Coalition for Whales. The primary objective of this group was to reinforce the need for the country to reactivate their participation in the IWC and stop the motion to reopen whale hunting. In the two first months, the Coalition worked intensely, forming three subgroups: one in charge of politics, another of press and one for public activities. In this way, the Coalition gained public attention through demonstrations, press conferences and releases, concerts, a campaign website and any media coverage possible. The group no only revealed the Costa Rican governments lack of action, but it also went into governmental lobby. Through different lobbying instances, the Coalition presented a proposal that supported the social and scientific importance and viability to return of the IWC. The goal of the Coalition was reached much sooner than expected. On February 15th 2007, the government announced, through the Environmental Minister, that they would regain voting rights for the next IWC meeting. The government has also assumed the responsibility of canceling the total debt acquired with the IWC, and is currently participating in the 59th meeting in Alaska. Leslie, A. & Martnez-Fernndez, D. 2007. Costa Rica Reloaded How a third world country returned to the IWC. 17th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Cape Town South Africa