If you’ve asked around already about developing in Costa Rica, you’ve probably heard this dreaded word. SETENA is the environmental gatekeeper that supervises the environmental impact of any kind of development. The good side of it is that its regulations are incredibly comprehensive and it has the potential and mandate to protect Costa Rica’s greatest resource – its nature and wildlife – from its greatest threat – people scrambling to build in Costa Rica because of its nature and wildlife. Honest developers should appreciate this, at least in theory.

The bad side of SETENA is the snail’s pace at which it moves and the at-times arbitrary nature of its decisions. Large projects that require a full impact study take literally years to pass through SETENA, and other projects sometimes get stalled for suspiciously thin reasons. The government is constantly talking about reforming SETENA, and some progress has been made. For example, in 2008, SETENA switched to a digital file system. Before, the files for each development seeking approval sat piled on wrought-iron shelves in a back room. But despite the apparent will to get SETENA moving, don’t expect things to move much faster than they always have.

To do the review process, you have to hire a consultant approved by SETENA. There are thousands of individual environmental consultants and companies approved by SETENA to do environmental consulting (the list can be downloaded at www.setena.go.cr). It is highly recommended that you hire a company. You will certainly need studies from more than one professional to do this process, and a good consulting company will have those people on staff. It could be more expensive in the short term, but in the long term an experienced and comprehensive consulting company will likely save you a lot of trouble and money. Once again, the best way to find a good environmental consulting company is to ask around to other developers. Get several options and lots of references.