Costa Rica ponders ways to sustain reforestation success

By JAVIER CÓRDOBA and CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN
Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica went from having one of the world’s highest deforestation rates in the 1980s to a nation centered on ecotourism. The Central American country now lures world travelers with the promise that they can move between marine reserves and cloud forest in a single day. But Costa Rica has committed to getting to net zero emissions by 2050, and that means a fuel tax that has helped reverse deforestation will eventually go away. Ideas to replace the money include new taxes, charges to tourists and getting big developed countries to compensate nations like Costa Rica that do more than their share to store carbon.