7°— By means of Directriz DIG-01-2025 Actualización de Información de la zona pública de la Zona Marítimo Terrestre con respecto al Sistema de Referencia Horizontal CR-SIRGAS para la época de medición 2014.59 of May 28, 2025, the information contained in IGN's Georeferenced Digital Geodatabase (Geodatabase Digital Georreferenciada, GDG) on the Maritime Terrestrial Zone was updated, transitioning it from the CR05 horizontal reference system to the CR-SIRGAS horizontal reference system for the measurement epoch 2014.59, CRTM05 projection, as a mechanism for demarcating the Maritime Terrestrial Zone.
8°— Georeferencing to the national coordinate system as a mechanism for demarcating the public zone of the Maritime Terrestrial Zone enables the correct demarcation of the public zone for purposes of the preparation of coastal regulatory plans, the endorsement of cadastral survey plans, the granting of concessions in the Restricted Zone, and other aspects of coastal territorial planning.
9°— The georeferenced digital information on the demarcation of the public zone of the Maritime Terrestrial Zone held by IGN is referred to as IGN's Georeferenced Digital Geodatabase (GDG) on the Maritime Terrestrial Zone (ZMT).
10.— IGN's Georeferenced Digital Geodatabase (GDG) on the Maritime Terrestrial Zone is technically grounded in the application of the regulations established by: a) Decreto Ejecutivo N° 7841-P Reglamento a la Ley No. 6043 sobre la Zona Marítimo Terrestre; b) Decreto Ejecutivo N° 33797-MJ-MOPT, which declares CR05 as the official horizontal datum for Costa Rica and its associated cartographic projection CRTM05; c) Decreto Ejecutivo N° 36642-MP-MOPT-MINAET Reglamento de Especificaciones para la Delimitación de la zona pública de la Zona Marítimo Terrestre; d) Decreto Ejecutivo Nº40962-MJP Actualización del Sistema Geodésico de Referencia Horizontal Oficial para Costa Rica; and e) Directriz DIG-01-2025 Actualización de Información de la zona pública de la Zona Marítimo Terrestre con respecto al Sistema de Referencia Horizontal CR-SIRGAS para la época de medición 2014.59.
11.— Article 16 of Ley N° 7575 Ley Forestal of February 13, 1996, and its amendments, establishes that MINAE shall demarcate in the field the boundaries of the areas comprising the State Natural Heritage (Patrimonio Natural del Estado).
12.— Article 11 of Chapter I, General Provisions, of Ley N° 6043 Ley sobre la Zona Marítimo Terrestre of March 2, 1977, and its amendments, establishes that the "public zone also includes, regardless of its extent, all mangroves on the continental and insular coastlines and tidal inlets (esteros) of the national territory." 13.— Decreto Ejecutivo N° 36786-MINAET Manual para la clasificación de tierras dedicadas a la conservación de los recursos naturales dentro de la Zona Marítimo Terrestre en Costa Rica of August 12, 2011, establishes among its objectives "To identify within the Maritime Terrestrial Zone those lands that qualify as forests, lands of forestry aptitude (Class VII and VIII soils), or wetlands (mangroves, tidal inlets, ría inlets, salt marshes (marismas), coastal lagoons, swamps, flooded forests, salt flats (salitrales)), in order to certify them and incorporate them as part of the State Natural Heritage (PNE)." 14.— Decreto Ejecutivo N° 36786-MINAET, under Section III — Competencies for demarcation and certification, establishes that "The classification of lands within the ZMT shall be the responsibility of the Conservation Areas (Áreas de Conservación, AC) of SINAC and duly accredited private professionals registered with the relevant Professional Associations, for the purpose of classifying forests, lands of forestry aptitude (Class VII and VIII soils), (mangroves, tidal inlets, ría inlets, salt marshes, coastal lagoons, swamps, flooded forests, salt flats) and wetlands.
The validity of classification documents issued by private professionals shall be subject to the approval of the AC with territorial jurisdiction. The AC of SINAC with jurisdiction over the ZMT shall also be responsible for the verification, oversight, boundary demarcation, and certification of State Natural Heritage lands and protected buffer zones.
The location and demarcation of State Natural Heritage areas within the Maritime Terrestrial Zone must be carried out as part of the approval process for the Plan Regulador Costero (PRC), as defined by Ley 6043, since the Plan Regulador Costero is the land-use planning instrument that defines and locates all zones to be granted under concession within the ZMT and for the classification of the ZMT at the level of cadastral plans. Therefore, the Plan Regulador Costero must clearly and expressly indicate the PNE areas so that they are not counted in the total concessionable area." 15.— IGN employed the Georeferenced Digital Demarcation methodology to demarcate the public zone of the Maritime Terrestrial Zone corresponding to a mangrove sector at Playa Blanca, District 08° Cabo Velas, Canton 03° Santa Cruz, Province 05° Guanacaste.
16.— By means of official communications ACT-OSRSCC-1254-2024 of November 23, 2024, signed by Mr. Orlando Matarrita Suárez, Head of the Subregional Office of Santa Cruz – Carrillo, Guanacaste; CTPR-SINAC-ACT-0043-10-2023 (DDUR-DCTSINAC-ACT-0630-10-20223) of October 10, 2023, signed by Eng. Alejandra Auxiliadora Sancho Perlaza, Coordinator and Municipal Survey Engineer, Municipalidad de Santa Cruz; and DDUR-DCT-IGN-908-11-2024 of November 28, 2024, signed by engineers Alejandra Sancho Perlaza and Karina Cruz Campos, both of the Municipalidad de Santa Cruz; a technical report was submitted granting approval to the survey and demarcation carried out.
17.— By means of official communication DIG-GDF-016-2025 dated May 28, 2025, issued by the Surveying Sub-process of the Department of Geodesy and Geophysics of the Instituto Geográfico Nacional, a technical review report was issued for the publication of the georeferenced demarcation of the public zone, in relation to the work carried out by SINAC-ACT concerning the demarcation of a mangrove sector at Playa Frijolar, the demarcation having been technically validated for publication.
18.— Article 140 of Ley N° 6227 Ley General de la Administración Pública of May 2, 1978, and its amendments, states that "an administrative act shall take effect after it has been communicated to the party concerned, except where it exclusively confers rights, in which case it shall take effect from the moment it is adopted." This provision must necessarily be read in conjunction with Article 240, paragraph 1, of the same legal body, which defines the appropriate instrument for communicating acts of a general nature, stating that: "General acts shall be communicated by publication, and specific acts by notification." HEREBY ANNOUNCES:
1°— On March 30, 2023, SINAC-ACT conducted field work for the georeferenced digital demarcation, referenced to the national coordinate system, of the public zone of a mangrove sector at Playa Blanca, District 08° Cabo Velas, Canton 03° Santa Cruz, Province 05° Guanacaste.
2°— The Instituto Geográfico Nacional publishes the georeferenced digital demarcation of the public zone comprising 21 points that describe the mangrove located at Playa Blanca, District 08° Cabo Velas, Canton 03° Santa Cruz, Province 05° Guanacaste, based on the Reglamento de Especificaciones para la Delimitación de la zona pública de la Zona Marítimo Terrestre and on the methodology used and validated by the Área de Conservación Tempisque (SINAC-ACT).
3°— The demarcated public zone corresponds to a mangrove sector at Playa Blanca, District 08° Cabo Velas, Canton 03° Santa Cruz, Province 05° Guanacaste, in accordance with official communications DIG-GDF-016-2025-PU-INF-Revisión de delimitación de estero manglar Playa Blanca, issued by the Surveying Sub-process of the Department of Geodesy and Topography of the Instituto Geográfico Nacional, and official communications ACT-OSRSCC-1254-2024 of November 23, 2024, from the Área de Conservación Tempisque (SINAC-ACT), DDUR-DCT-IGN-908-11-2024 of November 28, 2024, and CTPR-SINAC_ACT-0043-10-2023 (DDUR-DCT-SINAC_ ACT-0630-10-20223) of November 23, 2024.
4°— The public zone of the Maritime Terrestrial Zone corresponding to the mangrove sector verified and demarcated by the Municipalidad de Santa Cruz at the Playa Blanca mangrove area corresponds to the following coordinates, in Costa Rica's official cartographic projection system CRTM05/CR05 and its update with respect to the CR-SIRGAS Horizontal Reference System:
A MANGROVE SECTOR AT PLAYA BLANCA [Coordinate table embedded as image in source document; image available at: https://sinalevi.go.cr/ImagenesSINALEVI\Normativa\2020-2029\2025\AV_16_0_105017\1786AF\image001.png] 5°— The sectors located at Playa Blanca, District 08° Cabo Velas, Canton 03° Santa Cruz, Province 05° Guanacaste, that currently have an official demarcation of the public zone of the Maritime Terrestrial Zone through the placement of boundary markers and the corresponding publication in the Official Gazette La Gaceta, retain their official status.
6°— The official technical data for the georeferenced digital demarcation of the public zone of the Maritime Terrestrial Zone for a mangrove sector at Playa Blanca, District 08° Cabo Velas, Canton 03° Santa Cruz, Province 05° Guanacaste, have been recorded in IGN's Georeferenced Digital Geodatabase on the Maritime Terrestrial Zone (ZMT) in a vector shapefile format, under the classification code: ZONA PÚBLICA-MOJONES.
7°— This notice takes effect upon publication.
Issued in Curridabat, San José, July 4, 2025.