22 December 2011: In a suit in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), filed 22 December 2011, Nicaragua alleged that construction by Costa Rica of a road along their mutual border violates Nicaragua’s sovereignty and is damaging fragile ecosystems. According to the filing, the construction threatens to destroy the San Juan de Nicaragua River and its ecosystem, including adjacent biosphere reserves and internationally protected wetlands.

Nicaragua says that the construction has indiscriminately dumped sediments into the river, deforested adjacent tree and vegetation cover and removed topsoil, facilitating erosion, endangering water quality and river aquatic life, including several endangered species and rare fauna and flora. Nicaragua contends that the work particularly harms the Indio Maiz Biosphere Reserve, part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor that the Central American countries jointly formed in order to protect biodiversity. The suit also alleges that Costa Rica has refused to provide sufficient information on the project’s construction works and denies that it should provide Nicaragua with an environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the risks of the project.

Nicaragua is asking the Court to find that Costa Rica is violating its obligations under several environmental agreements, including the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention for the Conservation of the Biodiversity and Protection of the Main Wildlife Sites in Central America, and the bilateral agreement for an International System of Protected Areas for Peace (“Yes to Peace Agreement”).

Nicaragua is further requesting the Court to order Costa Rica to restore the situation status quo ante, pay for the environmental damages caused and for the dredging of the river, and to pledge not to undertake future development in the area without a transboundary EIA “presented in a timely fashion to Nicaragua for its analysis and reaction.” [ICJ Press Release]