Costa Rica, a destination carbon neutral.
Published on Oct 30^th, 2009 by “Saturday’s Globe and Mail” 

At a sustainable tourism conference, the country’s ecotourism organization (CANAECO) and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications signed an agreement that puts in place a system to cover the offsetting of tourists’ flights. The program is designed to address the glaring lack of accountability in the area of international fuel: Though airline fuel is purchased in one country, no system is in place to assign responsibility for emissions released during international travel to either the country of departure or arrival.

 The plan has been designed for December’s Copenhagen climate-change conference, and is a part of Costa Rica’s commitment to become carbon-neutral over all by 2021. While the tourist receives a carbon-offsetting certificate, the money raised – ranging from around $10 to $30 per visitor – will go to the nation’s forestry financing fund (FONAFIFO) to plant what will basically be carbon-absorption forests

 “Beginning today, Costa Rica is on the way to becoming the first carbon-neutral destination in the world,” said Jurgen Stein of CANAECO.

 

A “CARBON-NEUTRAL DESTINATION”

AN EXPERIENCE THAT IS ALREADY ONE YEAR OLD

AT THE ITACARÉ/SERRA GRANDE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AREA.

For those who do not know, Costa Rica is considered a model in the conservation of tropical forests, as the country has one of the systems of protected areas with greater coverage in proportion to its territory, with about 25% of the country under some category of protection. The initiative of Costa Rica to become the first carbon neutral destination, demonstrates how our Carbon Neutral Destination Program is aligned with global environmental trends which are beginning to be carried out by countries that are a reference in these issues.

Our “Carbon-Neutral Destination Program”, initiated in December 2008, is a “local certification” that differentiates the tourist facilities and the tourists that neutralize their CO2 emissions. However, what makes our program unique is that, at the other end of the program, local small-scale traditional farmers ( living in precarious conditions and on a collision course with environmental conservation practices ) take part in the program, taking the leading role of conservation, reforesting degraded areas of their properties and conserving the forests remnants – a very simple and efficient model to democratize forest conservation in Brazil.

But that’s NOT all ! In addition to the neutralization of CO2 and conservation of forest remnants, the program has improved significantly the quality of life of participating farmers. Through : 1) the so called Bolsa Conservação (a monthly grant for conservation, which is given to the traditional small-scale farmers that take part in the program); 2)  the technical, environmental and human skills they receive; 3)  introduction of alternative production practices on their properties; and 4)  exchanging of experiences with experts and tourists who visit their areas – farmers have found out new experiences to help them increase their self-esteem and to strengthen the belief that they CAN stay in the rural area.

Since it is a pioneer program, which is generating many benefits, it is very important to involve the largest possible number of participants (touristic equipments, tourists, and sympathizers) contributing and disseminating this experience.

Join this network that aims to bring to the Itacaré-Serra Grande Environmental Area the status of First Neutral-Carbon Destination in Brazil, an innovative and differentiated identity that is promoting the enhancement of this destination and contributing to the construction of sustainable tourism in the region. CLICK HERE to know how to join this network!

*** The program’s T-shirts are on sale at Marimar Gifts, at Urso-de-Óculos Cultural Bookshop and at Easy Drop – all of them in Itacaré – for the price of R$ 15,00. Try on this idea and let your personal seed of solidarity in our Environmental Protection Area !