Wildlife researchers scour Costa Rica’s highways to help reduce roadkill
Costa Rica is a jewel of a country, and one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Residing in its mountains, jungles, and beaches are approximately half a million animal and plant species. Although Costa Rica is a leader in conservation, it also has the highest density of roads in Read More...
This sloth orphanage nurses sloth babies back into the wild
As a result of decades of deforestation and other human activities, sloths are among the most endangered mammals in the world, with only about 1,500 remaining in the wild according to the WWF. In Costa Rica, sloths are often under threat from an early age. Many orphaned cubs are a common occurrence Read More...
4 Latin American countries join forces to form huge marine reserve
Four Latin American countries have agreed to merge their marine reserves to form one mega-reserve that will protect one of the world’s richest regions of ocean biodiversity. The pacific-facing countries of Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, and Costa Rica announced the creation of the Eastern Tropical Read More...
Costa Rica approves legalization of medicinal cannabis
Last week, Costa Rica’s Congress approved the legalization of medicinal cannabis, overcoming the opposition from conservative groups and President Carlos Alvarado, who has yet to ratify the law. If President Alvarado vetoes the law, then lawmakers would have to vote on it again and approve it Read More...
These are the inaugural winners of the Earthshot Prize
We have previously wrote about Earthshot Prize nominee Vinisha Umashankar, a clever 14-year-old student from Tamil Nadu who created a mobile ironing cart that runs off solar power. Although Umashankar didn’t win an Earthshot Prize, the five other recipients were recently announced. Here are the Read More...
Costa Rica isn’t letting Covid stand in the way of sustainable progress
One small Central American country is making big moves when it comes to combating climate change. Famous for its environmental policy, Costa Rica is making headway against the destruction of its fragile habitats even in the face of budget cuts and setbacks due to the pandemic. Costa Rica is Read More...
Brooklyn Museum returns 1,305 looted artifacts back to Costa Rica
Recently, we shared the good news about Germany’s decision to return its collection of the Benin Bronzes back to Nigeria, where they belong. Soon after, the Met Museum followed suit and returned two brass plaques belonging to the same collection of West African art that was looted during Read More...
New radar in Costa Rica can track tiny space debris
Space debris flying around Earth’s orbit is a major threat to the International Space Station (ISS) and future manned space missions. That’s why LeoLabs, a company that provides commercial radar tracking services for objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), just built the “most advanced commercial Read More...
Patagonia wants to bring breadfruit to your local grocery store
While chances are that your local grocery store doesn’t have breadfruit in the produce aisle, that may soon change thanks to Patagonia Provisions, a division of the outdoor apparel company, which wants to help make the food system more sustainable and cut carbon emissions from the atmosphere. As Read More...
Coffee waste speeds up forest recovery on degraded land
From boosting local job opportunities to improving biodiversity and capturing carbon, restoring deforested land can hold a variety of benefits for both local communities and the environment. And in the tropics, these benefits could be boosted with the help of coffee waste — at least that’s what Read More...