Cocos takes a Hit

Cocos Island, Costa Rica is one of the worlds most beautiful islands. I'm not just saying that because I agree, but it has been stated by the likes of Jacques Cousteau as well. Efforts to help keep the island beautiful and a refuge for the animals that live there, are constant, ongoing, and frustrating at times. I have been able in the past few years to observe, and then take part in these efforts alongside several people who are pioneers in this fight for the environment. One such man is Kifah Sansa, a Costa Rican who has worked closely with the UN and the french Fund for the Environment to help preserve Cocos's beauty. Unfortunately Kifah Sasa's contract (FFE UNDP)with the Costa Rican Government has been revoked.
This honestly comes as no surprise. Kifah has worked hard and pushed the Government to enact preexisting laws. The Costa Rican Government is not one to enact justice though, especially when it comes to the sea. The fishing industry in C.R. is much too important. There are hundreds of documented cases of fishing boats illegally fishing in Costa Rican waters, and only a hand full have ever gotten anything more than a warning, even gross repeat offenders. I personally have filmed the Coast Guard firing warning shots across the bow of a fishing boat on Cocos Island, while the captain of the fishing vessel looks on with disdain, a cigarette burning low in the early morning light. The fishermen know the Government is on their side.
I don't know the exact reason Kifah has been "let go" but I can imagine. He jump started numerous plans to help the island recover from years of abuse, and has annoyed the wrong people. It is sad. Not really for me, or Kifah, who knew what his job entailed, but for the island itself. The hundreds of thousands of sharks, millions of fish, birds, and vegetation. They are the legacy that the U.N. has tried to help protect, but the best of intentions paved the way to hell too. I guarantee there are about 15 tuna fishing boats sitting just outside the parks boundaries right now. They are waiting for dark, when they will run with no lights, enter the park from the South, drop hundreds of miles of long line, and then head back out to the North side, and wait for the Southern current to bring them their lines. This is going on right now, every day, and they all know Kifah is gone.