The United States and Costa Rica announced in September the first eleven favored Costa Rica environmental projects with money from the second debt-for-nature granted by the U.S. government in 2010.
The eleven projects NGOs will receive a total of $ 416,000 of the first amount of $ 27 million U.S. condoned by Costa Rica in 2010. Money is administered in a trust for 15 years and run through the “Costa Rica Forever Foundation”.
Environmental initiatives will be aimed at climate change mitigation, biodiversity protection and enhancement of protected areas in the country.
U.S. Ambassador Anne Andrew said she expects the two debt-for-nature swaps with Costa Rica strengthen bilateral cooperation and promote “the transition to a cleaner economy and combating environmental degradation through conservation tropical forests.”
The chosen projects belong to organizations such as the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) and the Tropical Science Center (CCT), among others.
The first U.S. trade with Costa Rica was formalized in 2007 in the amount of $ 26 million.
According to the U.S. embassy, with two exchanges Costa Rica has become one of the most favored by Law of Tropical Forest Conservation (TFCA, for its acronym in English), which was approved in the U.S. in 1998.
25 percent of Costa Rica’s territory remains under protection and is home to 5% percent of the planet’s biodiversity, which has made the country an attractive tourist destination.
EFE
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose Costa Rica
