Costa Rica News – Well perhaps if the drive for carbon neutrality starts at the base level in Costa Rica something might be accomplished as we all know it will not happen at the government level. Sustainable farming and climate change have been at the heart of many discussions and forums. This means nothing, however, if the politics don’t change.
There was recently a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development that sought to promote an ecological approach to farming as a way to cope with and limit the climate changes.
Costa Rica is striving to become carbon neutral by 2021. As of now, farms are already taking steps to use new technology to meet this goal. There are four government-funded farms piloting the operation.
They have means for capturing methane gas from livestock and turning it into fuel. They use natural fertilizer and maintain a bamboo forest that takes the land beyond carbon neutral.
“We are contaminating about 6,000 tons, but we absorb 120,000 tons. We have an excess of remissions,” explained farm manager Xinia Solano. They use wood ash against pests and aerate soil with rice and coconut hulls. These low tech methods were used by their ancestors and will help preserve the planet for generations to come.
These changes are occurring on small plots of land, for now. They will need support from larger companies to reach the goal. Dole’s Standard Fruit is reducing emissions on their banana and pineapple plantations. The plastic bags used to protect fruit are being recycled into shipping material.
A spokesman for the company said, “We want to utilize the company’s environmental management systems and our staff’s expertise to produce and market ‘carbon neutral’ bananas and pineapples.”
