Costa Rican Bananas To
Go Carbon Neutral
The Costa Rican banana
industry is intending to
go carbon neutral as
part of a national joint
effort to make the small
Central American nation
the first to offset all
its carbon dioxide
emissions by 2021.
President Oscar Arias
recently announced that
Costa Rica aims to cut
its net greenhouse gas
emissions to zero by
2021, to coincide with
the celebration of the
bicentennial of Costa
Rican independence. A
government action plan
has already been
approved, and many
projects are now
underway to reach this
target.
The banana industry’s
contribution to
conservation and
reforestation is 6,305
hectares of replanted
forests: equivalent to
14.4 per cent of the
total acreage under
banana production.
This latest step follows
the investment of more
than $1 million
(£508,000) by national
banana association
Corbana in two new
adjoined research
facilities studying
pesticide reduction.
Corbana has also
recently established a
partnership with
researchers in the
Netherlands, France,
Brazil and Belgium,
which aims to reduce
banana production
pesticide use by half in
10 years.
|
