Our friends at Rainforest Alliance recently announced a very exciting collaboration Nestle Nespresso. They have come together to help reduce the environmental impact and increase the social benefits of coffee cultivation in tropical regions throughout the world. Jessica Webb of Rainforest Alliance sums up its direct value to Costa Rica, “One of the most significant impacts is that Nespresso will be sourcing primarily from small farms, so thousands of small producers will benefit directly from this large international alliance. It will help conserve acres of sustainably managed land and surrounding ecosystems, plus the employment and help benefits that will accrue to thousands of workers.”

The farms will meet guidelines for farming that integrate the three spheres of sustainability: economic viability, environmental conservation and social justice.The Rainforest Alliance and other nonprofit groups formed the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) in the early 90’s to develop the aforementioned guidelines and have since helped thousands of farmers adopt them on farms growing a variety of crops in 22 tropical countries.

During years of fieldwork in coffee-growing areas, specialists in sustainable farm management from the Rainforest Alliance and the SAN joined with coffee quality experts from Nespresso to explore every detail of farm and mill management, and to identify social and environmental improvements. The resulting comprehensive program is called “Ecolaboration.

Farms that are certified in this new, innovative program have to comply with a wide variety of standards covering all aspects of sustainable farming, including soil and water conservation, protection of wildlife and forests, and ensuring that farm workers, women and children have all the proper rights and benefits, such as good wages, clean drinking water, access to schools and healthcare and security.

“The happy marriage of sustainability and quality proves the importance of an integrated approach, one that results in benefits for farmers, wildlife, ecosystems and communities”, says Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance.

Richard Girardot, CEO of Nestle Nespresso concurs, “We want to share value with the farmers who grow these highly prized coffees. Their quality of life, environmental quality and quality in the cup are equally interlinked.”

The Nespresso program already boasts six million espresso aficionados. Their coffee comes in capsules that get popped into a special Nespresso machine. It’s a great marketing idea with coffee that tastes good, while making you feel good about supporting a sustainable quality program benefiting small coffee farmers in Costa Rica and around the world

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In the interest of promoting a dialogue on the politics of environmental policy, we are providing a brief summary of the Citizen’s Action Party (PAC) position. It appears in the post from Tex Hawkins, with an explanation of its origin.

The Citizen’s Action Party (PAC) has worked since its formation to define and strengthen those principles that guide our political participation.  The model of integrated development, solidarity and sustainability to which we are committed over the long term is based upon the recognition of universal human rights, from which emanate solid proposals and organizing principles of our thought and political action.  We agree that humanity is one and the planet is home to us all.  For this reason, we campaign for citizen action, solidarity, respect, equity, responsibility and ethics in government.

In the PAC party, we work for human development with environmental sustainability and a long-range perspective that integrates the economic as well as the social, cultural and political.  By “human development” we understand those processes that improve the quality of life associated with positive and balanced evolution of the country’s people and institutions through time.  Human development means better options for satisfying needs and providing individual and collective well-being.

The term “sustainability” relates to biodiversity conservation, responsible management of the nation’s natural resources, and ecosystem stability over time, such that human activity will not threaten or irreversibly affect natural cycles, resources, or bio-geophysical processes.  Sustainability is based on human comprehension and respect for the dynamic equilibriums of nature.  Our economic model and socio-political organization are based on the principles summarized above.

We introduced you to Tex Hawkins a number of months ago. He has just posted a terrific article that shares a combination of environmental and political science. He provides an English translation of the Citizen’s Action Party (PAC) environmental platform, which we consider to be extremely important in Costa Rica’s political dialogue. It will also be posted separately, in the interest of encouraging this dialogue.

“In my last post to Nature Air’s Nature Blog, I translated and shared observations from Costa Rican presidential candidate and opposition party leader Otton Solis, made after he attended the January inauguration of Barack Obama.  Of course, it’s impossible to predict how the ideals embodied in those reflections would play out if he were elected to that nation’s highest office, just as it would have been impossible for many of us to predict the effects of the military-industrial-financial-media complex on the rhetorical promise of our new president’s social and environmental agendas.  As my 90-year-old mother often advises, “hope for the best.”

I would advise further that we stay informed, involved and committed to a peaceful quest for the common good.  In that spirit, Winona State University launched a unique educational exchange last year, in the form of an interdisciplinary travel-study course on comparative conservation history and evolution of environmental policy.  We titled the course, “Making Peace with Nature,” borrowing from the initiative launched by Nobel prize-winning President Oscar Arias.  Our agenda called for visits to important conservation areas and communities participating in innovative programs.  The founders and leaders of Costa Rica’s internationally recognized efforts graciously found time to share their personal stories with the students, frankly discuss successes and failures, and answer many questions regarding future possibilities for a sustainable, healthy and just society. Read on…

A number of months ago, we welcomed Stephen Brooks to Nature Blog. Stephen is a very high energy guy, who is on a mission in Costa Rica. He is an environmental warrior, a proponent of eating healthy foods, and an advocate for sustainable living. Presently, he is very involved in launching the Machuca community, an eco-village project in San Mateo de Orotina, located in the north Pacific region of the country. This serves as the back drop for Stephen’s current contribution. He has a great perspective on where we are at and where we need to be going and I encourage you to read on.

“In 1995, while on vacation in Costa Rica, I witnessed a playground full of indigenous children getting sprayed by a crop duster while playing Soccer. I learned how in order to grow cheaper and cheaper bananas entire ecosystems and countless lives are being destroyed, and this realization changed my life forever and led to a series of business mostly focused in Costa Rica.  I couldn’t believe my eyes. How could a society that has achieved so much be so destructive? We can zip around the world on jets and video chat through our cell phones and yet most of the food we eat is grown with harmful chemicals, while the last remaining sustainable farmers are less and less able to stay in business. So those who should be teaching the whole world how to become sustainable are themselves being lost to unsustainable global trends. We have to turn this around. We can’t think of anything more important to do and so that is what we are devoting our lives to. Whether its through the development of sustainable communities (Kopali Communities) or through the marketing of products grown and produced by sustainable farmers (Kopali Organics). Read on…

I don’t know about you, but I am often intimidated and overwhelmed by thoughts of climate change, conservation and sustainability. What can you do and where can you turn for some inspiration?

Natureair is a great story, and it is one about vision, perseverance and a dedication to conservation and service. Its Founder and CEO, Alex Khajavi, put it all on the line right after September 11^th, when he purchased a bankrupt Costa Rican airline and overcame some very tough odds along the way. Less than eights years later, it is an extraordinary accomplishment for this company to receive the prestigious Tourism for Tomorrow award, presented by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

Alex Khajavi accepted the award at the Global Travel and Tourism Summit, held in Florianopolis, Brazil, May 14th-18th. He said, “It is an honor for us to receive this award from WTTC which is one of the only awards decided by the top 100 tourism companies in the world and that includes on-site audits that vet your sustainable projects. The award only inspires us to do more and continue to chase sustainability, and we hope that it also inspires others, most notably other airlines to take up the challenge on climate change and work to reduce and offset their emissions.”

Sustainable practices and fighting climate change can be a personal decision to begin recycling in your home, or it can be about an airline in Costa Rica. It is the intention and not the scale of the effort that matters. Ultimately, individuals make these choices, whether they are CEO’s or single parent householders. So, this is an opportunity to thank individuals like Alex Khajavi for creating a company that makes a difference by operating responsibly with respect for the environment and the community, basic principles of sustainability.

Jean-Claude Baumgarten, WTTC President and CEO summed up their story very well at the awards ceremony. “In 2004, Natureair made a highly ambitious pledge to set new standards for sustainable practices in the airline industry, compensating for 100% of its greenhouse gas emissions through preservation and reforestation of tropical forests in the Osa Peninsula. And it has not only fulfilled this pledge, but has also implemented a whole host of other effective sustainable policies and activities, including community benefit outreach programs.”

The need to travel and explore is basic to our nature. The curiosity to know what is just beyond the horizon, at the top of a mountain or at the bottom of the ocean, has driven us for millennia. The travel and tourism industries have empowered millions of us to experience the elation felt by early explorers when they first came upon the magnificence and abundance of places like the Osa Peninsula. These modern experiences expose us to the crying need to act responsibly, especially in light of the damage done from over development. The recently held summit was a tremendous opportunity for the sharing of ideas and strategies regarding responsible travel.

Alexi Huntley, Commercial Director for Natureair, was also at the gathering and had the following observations, “This event was the pinnacle of strategic thinking and innovation in tackling challenging issues like climate change, the global recession and even the impact of pandemics on our industry. The industry employs over 225 million people worldwide and represents 10% of global GDP. The ambience was electric, and it was a pleasure to see the Minister of Tourism from Botswana on stage with the CEO of Marriott. While strategies might be different, the goals are common to everyone in attendance.”

Just heard from Dr. Herster Barres of Reforest The Tropics in response to the recent Earth Day related post. As some of you may recall, we did a fairly extensive two-part post on his organization. My post on the state of earthly matters painted a fairly harsh picture, but I hope there were some shades of optimism, especially because of the hard work of many eco-pioneers in Costa Rica.  Dr. Barres is one of those people, who has dedicated his life to leaving the Earth in better shape than he found it.

“RTT continues to progress.  We should reach 300 acres of the RTT Model carbon-offset forest planted by the end of 2009 with the participation of 65 US sponsors.  Remember that our goal is to develop and demonstrate an improved model of carbon-offset forests.  The Model seeks to make reforestation profitable for the farmer, as profitable as cattle so as to promote the massive reforestation of farm pastures in the tropics.  Specifically, the monetary goal is $500/ha/yr.  If we can achieve this goal, then we have a good chance of making the forest sustainable.  And sustainability means long-term carbon sequestration.

So, more directly addressing your blog, I believe that there may be less of a conflict between profitability (commerce) and good stewardship of the environment.

Read on…

The last time we heard from Leland Baxter Neal, environmental journalist for the Tico Times, it dealt with a controversy in the Osa Peninsula, pitting environment against development. We are extremely pleased to feature some personal comments from Leland regarding the near term challenges to Costa Rica’s environment, followed by an article from Tico Times in which he addresses the tests that lay ahead for the government in this New Year

 Leland Baxter Neal

As a reporter, I am constantly talking to people who work with environmental issues, be they park guards, NGO coordinators, activists, academics and researchers or government officials. Lately, I have been struck by how nearly everyone I talk to is unhappy with the way Oscar Arias and his administration have handled environmental issues. The cases of the Las Crucitas gold mine and the Sardinal water pipeline are central to these complaints. In both cases, many in the environmental movement see the government willing to make enormous environmental sacrifices in order to accomodate foreigners with deep pockets. I believe the next year, and perhaps the next couple months, could be very telling.

President Arias recently said he was “tired” of all the opposition to his plans. Meanwhile, I see the environmental movement more revved up than ever. Costa Rica’s highest court, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, has been consistently coming down in favor of environmental protection. Arias and his environment minister Roberto Dobles are even the subject of a criminal investigation stemming from a presidential decree authorizing the logging of almost 200 hectares of forest for the Crucitas mine. The forest contains endangered mountain almond trees, and is prime habitat for the critically endangered great green macaw.

The question is, will Arias continue to go against the current by pushing these projects and giving coastal development a free rein, or will he start to temper his plans and push for real regulations on development? Read on…