Latin America & the Caribbean

Costa Rica

• © UNESCO/ D.Roger
• Poas volcano and lake, Costa Rica

The country houses the UNESCO Cluster Office for Central America in San José, which is the Cluster office to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

Costa Rica lies at the heart of one of the most active volcanic regions on Earth. It sits astride a series of volcanoes and mountains, part of the great Andean-Sierra Madre chain, which runs the length of the western littoral of the Americas.

It is participating in the study of seismic microzoning of Latin American cities. It is also involved in the Regional Action Programme Central America (RAP-CA) for Capacity Building for Natural Disaster Reduction to develop appropriate decision support tools and techniques to implement disaster preventive and mitigation measures, using local knowledge and information modelling tools. 

Below you can access the projects that are currently being implemented in the country within the framework of UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector.

People, Biodiversity and Ecology

- UNESCO and the European Space Agency (ESA) Project: Using Space Technologies to Assist Mesoamerica with the Biological Corridor More 

- Biosphere Reserves (WNBRs)

Oceans

- Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Sub-Commission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (IOCARIBE)

- Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS)

Earth Sciences

- Seismic Microzoning of Latin American Cities (IGCP, Project 487) 

- Hydrogeology, Hydrochemistry and Management of Coastal Aquifers on the Atlantic Coast of South America (IGCP, Project 519)

Coasts and Small Islands

- Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity Program (CARICOMP): sustaining coastal biodiversity benefits and ecosystem services

Natural  Disasters Reduction

- Regional Action Programme Central America (RAP-CA) for Capacity Building for Natural Disaster Reduction More

Remote Sensing

- UNESCO and the European Space Agency (ESA) Project: Using Space Technologies to Assist Mesoamerica with the Biological Corridor More