The primary objective of national parks worldwide is “to protect natural biodiversity along with its underlying ecological structure and supporting environmental processes, and to promote education and recreation.” The presence of pets, such as dogs and cats, can negatively impact wild species in a national park.

Costa Rica created the National Parks Service, Law 6084, to protect the country’s national heritage and extended this commitment with the creation of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC). The Costa Rican regulations prohibit entry of pets into national parks. Park officials ask visitors and nearby residents to ensure pets remain at home, promote awareness of national park rules through informational signage, and retain the power to enforce park regulations through legal action.

National parks bear the most stringent regulations of all protected areas, designed to mitigate any threats to wildlife or ecosystems within the park. The National Park Law (article 8, section 9) prohibits the introduction of non-native species to parks, including dogs and cats. Las Baulas National Park’s Regulation on Public Use (D.E. 36918-MINAE, article 16, subsection e) also proscribes entry of pets.

This Park protects habitat essential to the life cycle of critically endangered East Pacific leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea), as well as vulnerable olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) and endangered East Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas). These sea turtles lay their eggs on the beaches within Las Baulas National Park and, months later, their hatchlings race over the sand to the shoreline.

Degradation or destruction of critical habitat, climate change and fisheries all pose threats to sea turtles at various stages of their life histories. Apart from conservation of important nesting beaches, protecting nests from dogs is an essential first step to ensure the survival of the species from embryonic development to hatching and each hatchling’s race to the sea.