Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court has ordered urgent measures to prevent the electrocution of wildlife, particularly howler monkeys, on the country’s electricity network, following a legal challenge supported by International Animal Rescue.
In a landmark ruling, the Court found that Costa Rica’s state-owned electricity company (ICE) and the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) breached the country’s Constitution by failing to address known electrocution risks on power lines in the town of Nosara, on the Pacific west coast.
Wildlife deaths linked to unsafe electricity infrastructure have been rising across Costa Rica, with thousands of animals killed each year by uninsulated power cables and transformers. The case was brought by concerned Nosara residents, who argued that authorities had allowed these risks to continue despite being aware of previous electrocutions caused by power lines installed by ICE.
The judgment found that the continued installation of bare (uninsulated) power lines in areas where monkeys are known to live breached Costa Rica’s constitutional “Right to a Healthy and Ecologically Balanced Environment”.
The case could set an important precedent as the Court gave ICE and MINAE six months to install mitigation infrastructure on affected lines in Nosara. Failure to comply is a criminal offence of disobedience which could lead to senior officials being imprisoned or fined heavily, including the President of ICE, ICE’s Chief of Distribution and MINAE’s Minister of Environment.
The Court also ordered that both the State and ICE are liable for costs, damages and interest caused by their failure to prevent electrocutions.
“What happens next is important,” says Gavin Bruce International Animal Rescue CEO, which supported the legal challenge. The ruling could have major ramifications for wildlife protection nationwide.
“This is a hugely significant ruling which we hope will force Costa Rica’s electricity providers to finally do what needs to be done to keep wildlife safe. This hasn’t happened overnight, NGOs like IAR Costa Rica and Nosara residents have been fighting for action on this issue for years. Hopefully now we’re starting to see results.”
“This ruling sends an important message to other districts facing similar problems that failure to mitigate known electrocution risks will not be tolerated. We’ve been working with communities and like-minded groups across Costa Rica for years helping to rescue, rehabilitate and release hundreds of animals injured by unsafe electricity infrastructure”.
“International Animal Rescue will continue our efforts to improve wildlife protection and ensure compliance with this ruling and the existing laws that should really have protected wildlife from preventable harm years ago.”
“Already this story is being picked up in Costa Rica and we’re expecting international interest as the first time, we’re aware of a constitutional law being applied to enforce wildlife protection. International Animal Rescue will support and monitor ICE and MINAE as they take this as an opportunity to put things right and install insulation on all high-risk power lines.”
Costa Rica’s howler monkeys are considered an umbrella species whose protection ensures forest regeneration and biodiversity. Electrocution is one of the leading causes of mortality for adult monkeys and has a cascading effect on troop mortality when alpha males are killed.
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