10%

Protect and Restore

Showing the path to a regenerative and sustainable world, Costa Rica has doubled the size of their forests and simultaneously grown their economy. And the world is taking notice.

By Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) en América Latina y el Caribe

October 18^th, 2021

Environmental protection is frequently presented as a choice between benefits for the natural world or benefits for humans.

But the Republic of Costa Rica is showing that symbiotic relationships between environmental protection and economic development are possible.

And the world is taking notice.

Photo: © Giancarlo Pucci UNDP Costa Rica

Earthshot Prize

With the unveiling of the inaugural five winners on 17th October, 2021, the Government of Costa Rica was honoured with the Earthshot Prize, a Nobel-like award founded by the Duke of Cambridge and renowned British naturalist David Attenborough.

Selected in the ‘Protect & Restore Nature’ category, the Prize notes that Costa Rica is helping to 'turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism, by highlighting the ability of human ingenuity to bring about change - and inspire collective action.'

Andrea Meza, Minister of Environment of Costa Rica. Photo courtesy of Earthshot Prize.

“This prize is the recognition of thousands of people who have dedicated their lives to caring for our biodiversity. Our protected areas and our system of Payment for Environmental Services are now recognized throughout the world,” Andrea Meza Murillo, Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment and Energy.

She continues, “Costa Rica is determined to show that there is a path to a regenerative and sustainable world. Only 30 years ago, our ecosystems were in decline after decades of irrational exploitation, as is much of our planet today. But by creating visionary policies and engaging local and Indigenous communities, we stopped and reversed deforestation, benefitting our communities, nature and economy. This can and should be replicated elsewhere in the world."

The Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony 2021, Costa Rica 17th October 2021. Andrea Meza Murillo, Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment and Energy (L) and Carlos Alvarado, President of Costa Rica (R). Photo by Roberto Sánchez

As on land, so at sea

This prestigious global environmental prize, designed to incentivise change and help repair our planet over the next ten years, will be used to catalyse further innovation.

Accepting the Earthshot Prize, Carlos Alvarado, President of Costa Rica commits:

“Costa Rica will use the endowment to replicate in the sea the conservation model that has been successfully implemented in terrestrial ecosystems.”

Tortuga Island, Costa Rica. Photo: Atanas Malamov, Unsplash.com

“We will invest these resources in replicating and strengthening these models in marine conservation; We know that we must be diligent and act now to counteract the impacts of climate change, or the effects will be irreversible.”

Valuing the wild

Through a pioneering scheme paying local citizens to restore natural ecosystems, Costa Rica is leading a revival of the rainforest and reinforcing the path to a green and inclusive economy via a commitment to both protecting forests and restoring ecosystems.

They’ve figured out a way to make their forests more profitable than farmlands.

Changing course

Costa Rica’s biodiversity (close to 5% of the world's known species) was under threat throughout the 20th century.

By the 1990s, Costa Rica had the world’s highest global deforestation rates, and less than 25% of the country’s original forest cover remained, largely due to agricultural expansion and logging.

The problems with this model were as evident as denuded hills and clear-cut valleys bereft of wildlife – nature was only being valued as an extractive resource to be exploited for short-term gains.

Development AND conservation together

But Costa Rica’s government recognized that development did not have to come at the expense of conservation (and vice versa).

The country’s Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) combined a Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) program and a System of Conservation Areas to reverse deforestation and protect vital biodiversity.

The PES program is a voluntary contract through which land-use practices likely to secure environmental services are paid for by the government. That is, participants who implement forest protection, reforestation, natural forest regeneration, or agroforestry systems are eligible for payments.

A win-win for people and the planet.

The program has also integrated 160 protected areas into a single entity covering 1,840,448ha of protected land, equivalent to 26.21% of the nation’s continental territory and 0.85% of its sea surface.

Pedro García Rueda, beneficiary of the Programme Environmental Services Payment. Photo courtesy of Earthshot Prize.

Leading a revival

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility, was a pioneer in the development of Payment for Ecosystem Services initiatives and strategies for forest restoration, ocean conservation, and de-carbonization during his three-term tenure as Costa Rica's Minister of Environment and Energy.

He remembers: "When we created the Santa Rosa National Park in northwest Costa Rica in 1971 there were no sign of Jaguars; today’s population estimate: 200 individuals."

The healthy population of big cats bolsters the successes of the wider ecosystem and surrounding community. The Park today, 80% of which is regenerated tropical forest, generates seven times more income than an exotic animal farm would.

A duty to the future and the past

Pedro García Rueda, a beneficiary of the PES program, gazes upwards towards the treetops in a virgin forest area he keeps in his property.

Through the PES program, landowners like Pedro receive direct payments for the environmental services that their lands produce when adopting sustainable land-use and forest-management techniques.

For Pedro, a descendant of the Indigenous Maleku people, this program offers a way forward:

"Protecting the forests feels like a duty to honour both my ancestors and my future generations".

Pedro García Rueda showing how he's been able to harvest cocoa and plant trees to keep the forest in the same area. Keeping this virgin forest section intact, Pedro considers this evidence that humans and nature can coexist. Photo: Earthshot Prize.

A game changer

These combined policies are game-changing in that they make Costa Rica one of the only countries in the world to reverse its deforestation, stop biodiversity loss, and increase forest cover to over half its total territory, all at the same as increasing economic growth.

Recovering the forest that was lost shows that we can change course and have a healthier planet.

The collared aracari or collared araçari (Pteroglossus torquatus) is a toucan that lives in Costa Rica. Photo: Adriana Dinu / UNDP

Moreover, conservation practices and renovated forest cover have strengthened and accelerated economic growth by boosting an ecotourism sector that provides long-term, non-destructive employment.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas), Costa Rica. Photo: Adriana Dinu / UNDP

The future is a choice

MINAE´s conservation policies also accelerate development: the incorporation of environmental parameters into assessments of human development in 2020 made the country rise 37 places in the global Human Development Index (HDI) ranking.

The approval in 2020 of US$54 million of results-based payments by the Green Climate Fund for emission reductions resulting from these policies between 2014-2015 proves that conservation pays, even in times of economic recession.

Don Jesús, a water protector in Artola, Costa Rica. Photo: Priscilla Mora Flores / UNDP Costa Rica

The results have been extraordinary. Costa Rica’s forests doubled in size. Flora and fauna thrived which led to a boom in ecotourism, contributing $4 billion to the economy.

On the ground

UNDP has supported Costa Rican environmental policy-making and program implementation since 1973, including technical advisory to the Ministry of Environment and Energy on institutional matters.

Initiatives, many of which have been financed by the Global Environment Facility, include Payments for Ecosystem Services, and also the creation, management, and financial sustainability of terrestrial and marine Protected Areas. Additional initiatives include improving water resource management - as well as chemical and waste management, mainstreaming biodiversity into economic sectors, and addressing environmental impacts of agricultural commodities.

“UNDP has been a partner that has accompanied us for more than three decades in the improvement and strengthening of the country's environmental policy.” Andrea Meza Murillo, Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment and Energy

Priscilla Mora. Project led by women for forest conservation and tourism activity in San Carlos, North Zone of the country. Thanks to the forest, the community has benefited by generating a value chain. Photo: René Sancho, UNDP Costa Rica

UNDP is actively supporting the government in implementing the National Decarbonisation Plan, and developing projects that help transition towards a green and blue inclusive economy.

José Vicente Troya, UNDP Resident Representative in Costa Rica, hailed the win as “global recognition of Costa Rica's environmental achievements. We are proud and motivated by the joint work we have developed over the years with the country's authorities in strengthening public policy and environmental programs”.

For People For Planet

UNDP values the leadership of developing countries in finding solutions that work for people and for the planet. UNDP will continue to support governments, like the Republic of Costa Rica, in their efforts to protect and restore nature.