Costa Rica abolished its army in the 1940s to invest in its people’s welfare and education. The country then went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for brokering an agreement among troubled Central American countries to promote democracy and end civil strife.

Costa Rica pretty much invented the term ‘eco-traveller’. Back in the 1970’s they introduced a revolutionary national parks system and today around 30% of its land is protected. Costa Rica knows that its most valuable product is its varied and beautiful wildlife and landscapes. They have made some incredibly positive steps towards sustainability but it amazes me how many people knock their efforts.

 
I was originally going to write this post around the fact that Costa Rica gets the majority of its electrical energy from renewable sources (somewhere between 80% and 95% according to differing sources) and is working to be the worlds first carbon-neutral country (other countries vying to be first are Monaco, Norway, New Zealand and Iceland). Both quite outstanding facts in my opinion. But in researching all of this, I have come across lots of points of view that only want to see the negatives about Costa Rica.

Every country has a terrible sustainability CV, that’s why we are all in such a global mess but at least Costa Rica are making positive small steps in the right direction.

I think it is quite remarkable that 30% of Costa Rica’s energy comes from harnessing the huge amount of annual rainfall they get to Lake Arenal and that about 90% of its energy comes from renewable energy hydroelectric plants. Don’t you?

Dahlia Nahome is the Costa Rica editor for Wandering Educators.
As well as running her rental business, www.costaricanvacation.com & launching www.purasonica.com (a local radio station with her husband) she also enjoys writing about and raising the profile of the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica and has work published on various travel blogs.
You may reach her at dahlia at costaricanvacation dot com.