The Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) is one continuous biogeographical block of 163,000 hectares starting at 100m below sea level around the Murciélago Islands Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, spanning southeast to the Santa Elena Peninsula, through the Santa Rosa Plateau, up to the summits of the Orosí, Cacao and Rincón de la Vieja (1,916 m) Volcanoes, and down to the lowlands (100 m) on the Caribbean side of these volcanoes. The formation of this integrated biological unit has been the primary objective of the ACG since its conception in 1986.
The ACG is divided into sectors based on geographical and biological criteria in order to facilitate the administration and operation of this protected area. Sectors: Santa Rosa, Pocosol, Santa Elena, Murciélago, El Hacha, Orosí, Cacao, Pitilla, San Cristóbal, Pailas, Santa María, Mundo Nuevo, Rincon Rain Forest and Horizontes (see the ACG Sectors Map).
Sectors Map, Área de Conservación Guanacaste
The ACG is run by its own internal administration within an organizational framework consisting of operational leaders and personnel who work in various programs dedicated to carrying out the ACG's mission. Within this framework is the Sectors Program which is responsible for coordinating the logistical needs of each sector including manning all the observation and security stations and maintaining their infrastructure and installations as well as coordinating research, tourism, and other types of activities in the different sectors.
The Sectors Program is headed by three managers who oversee personnel in the field made up mostly of people who live near the protected areas. There are 25 Sector Program staff in total and they collaborate with and provide support to different protected area users (researchers, parataxonomists, and tourists) while also performing vigilance and protection duties and recording research data important to the development of the ACG such as meteorological data, biological monitoring, and GPS data.