A Vision of Costa Rica
THE PRESIDENT OF COSTA RICA, Jose Maria Figueres, presented the Fifth
Kew Environmental Lecture on 9 March 1995. Costa Rica contains an estimated
5% of the world's biodiversity and has more protected territory (24%) than any
other country. In his lecture on 'The Conservation Programme of Costa Rica', President Figueres spoke of his country's continued commitment to
environmental action; indeed, he wanted Costa Rica to become a 'pilot project of
sustainable development'. The President identified three cornerstones of sustainable development: strategic social investment, maintaining a
mocroeconomic balance, and an 'intelligent, strategic alliance with nature'.
He outlined work that had begun on the conservotion programme:
- A land use plan allowed for 40% of the country to be protected as national
parks and reserves'biodiversity factories' with potential for education
and revenue from ecotourism .
- Farmers were being encouraged to plant commercial tree crops on land
degraded by agriculture and to form traditional crops in a sustainable way.
- Research was underway to catalogue the country's biodiversity and explore its
commercial development.
- Education curricula now included environmental issues to produce a 'bioliterate' population .
- Government controls on the free market, in the form of financial
incentives and taxes, were in place to promote energy and resource
conservation, and to reduce pollution.President Figueres invited other
countries to become involved in this pilot project through joint implementation
programmes under both the Climate Change and Biodiversity Conventions,
and integration into world markets. He concluded his lecture by urging the
international community to make regional funds available for sustainable
development and to add environmental markers to economic and social
indicators of advancement.
Left: President Figueres speaking at Kew on Costa Rica's pilot project of
sustainable development.
Right: The president being shown Kew's Alpine collection by the director.
Planting of Inga as a commercial agroforestry crop is being assessed
in Costa Rica as part of a Kew/ODA initiative.
Trials of Inga oerstediana in Costa Rica.
Kew and the British Technology Group are working with the
Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad in Costa Rica to extract an alkaloid from a native
legume for potential development as a commercial nematicide.
Minister Visits Kew
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Rt. Hon. Wil!iam Waldegrave
MP, visited Kew on 11 January 1995. Accompanied by the Chairman of the Kew Trustees
(Robin Herbert) and the Director (Prof. Ghillean Prance), he toured the Herbarium,
the Princess of Wales Conservatory, the Jodrell Laboratory, and the Science Support,
Herbaceous and Alpine Units in the Melon Yard. He met many staff working on Kew's
science programmes.
William Waldegrave MP
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