Expropriation to Protect Turtles Costs Government $4 Million
First reported August 27, 2012 · Updated October 28, 2026
SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica, August 27, 2012. An international arbitration award related to land at Playa Grande, Guanacaste, has left Costa Rica facing a payment of just over US$4 million, including interest, in a dispute involving property designated for the protection of nesting leatherback sea turtles. The case highlights the legal and financial difficulties that can arise when conservation restrictions and private property rights overlap.
The award followed claims brought by German investors concerning coastal land near Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas, one of Costa Rica’s most important protected areas for leatherback nesting. The dispute concerned government measures affecting land intended for tourism development and, ultimately, the taking of land within the protected coastal zone.
What the international tribunal actually decided
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, handled proceedings involving Marion Unglaube and Reinhard Unglaube under separate case numbers. The distinction between the two investors matters because the cases did not have identical outcomes.
In its May 16, 2012 decision, the tribunal awarded Marion Unglaube US$3.1 million in compensation, plus US$965,900.33 in interest, for a combined US$4,065,900.33. It concluded that Costa Rica had taken measures amounting to expropriation of her 75-meter coastal strip within the park. The published decision’s operative section states those figures explicitly.
The separate claims of Reinhard Unglaube were dismissed on the merits. The original 2012 coverage attributed the compensable expropriation to Reinhard, but UNCTAD’s case summaries and the arbitration decision identify Marion as the recipient of the award. The approximately $4 million figure refers to the award including interest, not to a separate payment for each investor.
The tribunal’s decision did not invalidate the public interest in turtle protection. Instead, it required compensation under the applicable legal framework for the property interest that had been taken. The award also required the unencumbered ownership of the affected land to be transferred to Costa Rica or its nominee as part of the compensation arrangement.
Why Playa Grande matters for leatherbacks
Playa Grande is part of Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas in the Tamarindo Bay area of northern Guanacaste. The park was created to protect nesting beaches used by leatherback sea turtles, particularly Playa Grande, Playa Ventanas and Playa Langosta.
Leatherbacks are exceptionally large marine turtles that cross ocean basins and return to sandy beaches to lay their eggs. Suitable nesting habitat can be damaged by coastal construction, artificial light, changes to beach access and disturbance during the nesting season. Protection therefore involves more than the sand directly beneath a nest. Land use on adjoining parcels can influence conditions along the beach.
Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas, SINAC, identifies the protection of nesting leatherbacks as the central purpose of Las Baulas National Park. The agency also explains the park’s coastal and marine ecosystems, including important mangrove and estuary habitats.
What happened next
The May 2012 award became a documented example of how environmental protection and investor compensation can intersect. The UNCTAD investment-dispute database records the different outcomes for the two investors. Las Baulas remains a protected national park, and SINAC continues to identify Playa Grande among the nesting beaches the park was designed to conserve. The sources reviewed do not establish a definitive year-by-year recovery in the area’s leatherback nesting population, so no population trend is claimed here.
Questions and answers
Who received the compensation? Marion Unglaube, according to the arbitration award.
How much was awarded? US$3.1 million in compensation plus about US$966,000 in interest, totaling US$4.07 million.
Which wildlife habitat was involved? Leatherback sea turtle nesting habitat around Playa Grande and Las Baulas National Marine Park.