Puntarenas Province

Puntarenas Province is Costa Rica's biodiversity treasury—a Pacific coastal territory containing 2.5% of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity in the Osa Peninsula's 1,200 km² alone. National Geographic declared the Osa 'the most biologically intense place on Earth,' and Corcovado National Park (established 1975) protects the last remaining tract of Pacific lowland wet forest in Mesoamerica. The Golfo Dulce, one of only four tropical fjords worldwide, hosts three endangered sea turtle species on its beaches. Beyond conservation, the province spans Costa Rica's Pacific coast from the fishing town of Puntarenas to the adventure hub of Jacó to the cloud forests of Monteverde. The 2014 sailfish export ban and subsequent Golfo Dulce Marine Sanctuary creation demonstrate the province's bet on conservation economics over extraction. Sportfishing now draws premium tourists chasing IGFA records, while researchers conduct genetic roosterfish studies and fund rainforest conservation through BioSur partnerships. Puntarenas represents Costa Rica's conservation-as-strategy philosophy at its most concentrated—protecting natural capital as the basis for sustainable economic returns.