The following is some information our precious Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge.  Please when buying property and planning development take into consideration the importance of conserving the natural habitat.  Your property may or may not be inside the refuge zone where there are limits and guidelines on development.  If your property is outside the refuge, please keep in mind the importance of using "low impact" development practices.  There are corridors used by several species of endangered birds, monkies, and sloths that could run right through your property.  Caribbean Life Properties is happy to answer questions about low-impact development, wildlife corridors, etc.  

Wildlife Refuge 
Costa Rica is  only 1% of the land mass of the entire Earth and is said to sustain 5% of the worlds biodiversity!  Of the 5%, the Talamanca region holds 2% of all those biodiverse ecosystems.  The Talamanca moutians and rainforest is a closest cousin to the Amazon itself, boasting rivers, wetlands, moutians, and beaches, where wild animals such as crocidiles, howler monkies, sloths, jaguers and toucans dwell in its richness.   

Refugio Gandoca Manzanillo  
The Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge is situated in one of the most stunningly beautiful regions of Costa Rica. Located just a few kilometers north of the Panama border in Talamanca County, this wildlife refuge protects some the region’s most endangered flora and fauna. Lying on the Caribbean coast of Limon province and bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the east, this refuge is classified as a humid tropical rainforest and also looks after the only natural mangrove oyster beds found along the reefs of the coast.

Encompassing several rare habitats like a lowland rainforest, a wetland and a mangrove swamp, the Refugio Gandoca Manzanillo also safeguards the only orey and jolillo palm swamps in Costa Rica. This wildlife reserve is very important from an ecological point of view because it contains the only intact mangrove swamp in the Atlantic, and the primary lowland small rainforest found here is the only one of its kind in the region. A unique habitat, this reserve includes a 10 kilometer beach strip, a 740 acre forest, a coral reef and 2 swamps. The Refugio Gandoca Manzanillo is also the nesting area for several species of turtles, manatees, crocodiles, caimans, tarpons and dolphins. The turtle nesting season here lasts from March to May.