Wildlife conservation
Wildlife conservation permits in Costa Rica were established in 1992 with the Ley de Conservacion de la Vida Silvestre, or the Law on Wildlife Conservation (hereafter referred to as Law 7317). It is possible that another permit system was in place before this law was introduced, but no evidence has been found to confirm or deny this. According to Article 1 of Law 7317, its purpose is to regulate and monitor the appropriation and trade of natural resources within Costa Rica and to assure any extraction is done so in a sustainable fashion. All natural resources are declared of the interest of the State and any extraction, anywhere in Costa Rica, requires a permit. More specifically, anyone in Costa Rica who wants to harvest "Manicaria saccifera" will need to obtain permission from MINAET to do so legally. The permit system is one of many possible factors contributing to a decline in thatch use in Costa Rica but should not be considered independent of other social and economic factors.