Costa Rica’s initiatives in their commitment to sustainability lead me to perceive the country as progressive, wise, and respectable. Since the 1990s, the Costa Rican government has strived to implement environmental conservation policies that promote ecotourism, organic farming, environment preservation, national parks, and eventually a green economy, according to the Green Business Bureau. Costa Rica hasn’t always focused this much on sustainability, however.
As the Green Business Bureau illustrates, forest covered almost 75% of all Costa Rica’s land in the 1940s, until a new economic system that encouraged transforming forests (“unproductive land”) into agricultural land (“productive land”) came into play. As a result of these initiatives, Costa Rica’s once forest-covered land diminished by one half by 1987. Since then, though, the country has made a commitment to restore its natural environment, and forest now covers about 60% of the land again, according to CNN, which makes me respect the country for reversing the damage past environmental policies had caused and protecting the land for many generations to come. (Contrast this with the recently-approved Willow project in Alaska that will extract 600 million barrels of oil from federal land: this project is just one example of how countries like the United States, when compared to Costa Rica, have little to no regard for the consequences future generations will face as a result of such lucrative, yet environmentally detrimental, projects).
One of Costa Rica’s biggest initiatives towards sustainability today is decarbonizing the economy, followed by reducing deforestation and investing in all levels of education, to name a few. President Carlos Alvarado Quesada claims that in order to decarbonize the economy, Costa Rica will maintain economic growth and reduce the use of fossil fuels through “the electrification of transport, smart and resilient cities, sound waste management, sustainable agriculture, and improved logistics”. Here, he mentions promoting sustainable agriculture as a way to decarbonize the economy as part of maintaining the Costa Rica’s sustainability, which does imply the inclusion of bananas and coffee under the umbrella of “agriculture.”
I am excited to go to Costa Rica to witness these initiatives that sustain the country’s natural environment first-hand because it will show me what Pura Vida really means: appreciating the resources one already has, rather than ruminating over what one lacks. I can’t wait to absorb the beauty of the country and take home with me the sentiment behind the Pura Vida lifestyle, allowing me to immerse myself in the wonder of the natural world from a new perspective, and strive to protect it the way Ticos protect their natural environment.