Conclusions and recommendations

63. Although Costa Rica has a strong record of protecting and promoting environmentally related human rights, it does face several challenges. First, it is highly troubling that communities, including minority communities, are being threatened with expulsion from homes that they have occupied for generations, as a result of strict interpretations of laws governing protected areas. Conservation should not impose an undue cost on communities that have deep historical roots in areas of environmental importance. The right to a healthy environment need not conflict with other fundamental rights. The Independent Expert therefore recommends that Costa Rica move with greater expedition to resolve this situation before the expiration in 2014 of the two-year moratorium on the eviction of coastal communities living in protected areas, in a manner that:

• (a) Safeguards both the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment and the rights of those who have lived in and near the protected areas for many years;
• (b) Takes into account that many of those affected are members of minority groups that have been historically on the margins of Costa Rican political life, and ensures that the resolution of the situation is free from discrimination on any prohibited grounds;
• (c) Does not regard the absence of formal legal title as necessarily dispositive, in the light of the fact that rights may arise in relation to long-occupied property even in the absence of such title;
• (d) Provides for the full and informed participation of those affected in the process of reaching a resolution.

64. Second, with respect to all of its citizens, the Independent Expert recommends that Costa Rica continue to build on its efforts to engage those individuals and communities that are most directly concerned with the protection of particular areas in order to draw on their abilities and interests. Perhaps its greatest strength in relation to human rights and the environment is the broad-based commitment of its people to environmental protection and sustainable development.

VIII. Conclusion and Recommendations

78. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and fulfil the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, States should apply a human rightsbased approach to all aspects of improving air quality, ensuring safe and sufficient water, accelerating ambitious climate action to limit global warming to 1.5°C, detoxifying the economy, shifting to a sustainable food system, and conserving, protecting and restoring healthy ecosystems and biodiversity. For example, a rights-based approach to conservation is essential to ensure that the designation and management of protected terrestrial, freshwater and marine areas do not violate the rights of indigenous peoples, peasants, Afrodescendants or nature-dependent local communities. A human rights-based approach to preventing exposure to pollution and toxic chemicals could save millions of lives every year, while avoiding billions of episodes of illness and generating trillions of dollars in benefits.