Costa Rica Conservation Vs Canada"s Return to Exploitation
Conservation in Costa Rica and Canada: Two Countries Heading in Different Directions? One's headed apace back to the 19th century; one's firmly in the 21st century.
The former is Canada.
The latter is Costa Rica.
20 years ago, the roles were reversed.
Canada was a vast country famous for its wilderness and conservation ethos.
Costa Rica, on the other hand, was a tiny country bent on exploiting its forests to the point of near extermination.
Just 20% of the country still was forested.
Fast forward to today.
My! How things have changed.
Canada: Back to the Exploitative Days of the 19th Century Canada has declared war on the environment and its wildlife.
The Canadian government wants to expand tar sands drilling in Alberta to an area the size of the state of Florida, cutting down vast areas of boreal forest and putting animals like the woodland caribou at serious risk.
The government's solution? Kill thousands of wolves that, for eons, have contributed to the health of those very caribou with nature in balance.
Researchers estimate that, unless controls are put into place, the arboreal forests could be gone within a decade.
And what would remain? Vast areas of slurry and sludge-filled dikes contaminated with toxic chemicals such as naphthenic acid and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
Life replaced with death.
Costa Rica Conservation: World Leader in the 21st Century About two decades ago, with its forests depleted nearly 80%, Costa Rica set out on a radical course: replace exploitative practices with sustainable development and conservation.
Today, reforesting efforts receive enormous support from all levels of government and the public, so much so that 46% of the country is now covered with forests once again.
The recovery of the forests has resulted in the return of animals not seen for many years by locals.
More importantly, Costa Ricans at the highest levels-led by its past President, Oscar Arias-have declared that it's time to make peace with nature, warning: "We cannot keep the peace if we are knocking down forests with tractors the size of tanks, promoting the extinction of many species before we even give them a name.
Whether or not we come from countries at war, all of us are waging a war against our planet.
" Unlike its neighbor to the far north that appears hell-bent on returning to a vision fashionable in the 19th Century-plunder today and let future generations fend for themselves-Costa Rica refuses to allow oil drilling off its coasts, is committed to being carbon neutral by 2020, replanting forests, and making peace with Nature.
Theodore Roosevelt believed that the ultimate expression of patriotism was preserving the wilderness and refusing short-term exploitation at the expense of future generations.
Too bad Canada hasn't learned the lessons of history.
The former is Canada.
The latter is Costa Rica.
20 years ago, the roles were reversed.
Canada was a vast country famous for its wilderness and conservation ethos.
Costa Rica, on the other hand, was a tiny country bent on exploiting its forests to the point of near extermination.
Just 20% of the country still was forested.
Fast forward to today.
My! How things have changed.
Canada: Back to the Exploitative Days of the 19th Century Canada has declared war on the environment and its wildlife.
The Canadian government wants to expand tar sands drilling in Alberta to an area the size of the state of Florida, cutting down vast areas of boreal forest and putting animals like the woodland caribou at serious risk.
The government's solution? Kill thousands of wolves that, for eons, have contributed to the health of those very caribou with nature in balance.
Researchers estimate that, unless controls are put into place, the arboreal forests could be gone within a decade.
And what would remain? Vast areas of slurry and sludge-filled dikes contaminated with toxic chemicals such as naphthenic acid and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
Life replaced with death.
Costa Rica Conservation: World Leader in the 21st Century About two decades ago, with its forests depleted nearly 80%, Costa Rica set out on a radical course: replace exploitative practices with sustainable development and conservation.
Today, reforesting efforts receive enormous support from all levels of government and the public, so much so that 46% of the country is now covered with forests once again.
The recovery of the forests has resulted in the return of animals not seen for many years by locals.
More importantly, Costa Ricans at the highest levels-led by its past President, Oscar Arias-have declared that it's time to make peace with nature, warning: "We cannot keep the peace if we are knocking down forests with tractors the size of tanks, promoting the extinction of many species before we even give them a name.
Whether or not we come from countries at war, all of us are waging a war against our planet.
" Unlike its neighbor to the far north that appears hell-bent on returning to a vision fashionable in the 19th Century-plunder today and let future generations fend for themselves-Costa Rica refuses to allow oil drilling off its coasts, is committed to being carbon neutral by 2020, replanting forests, and making peace with Nature.
Theodore Roosevelt believed that the ultimate expression of patriotism was preserving the wilderness and refusing short-term exploitation at the expense of future generations.
Too bad Canada hasn't learned the lessons of history.
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