COSTA RICA CONSERVATION

OSCAR ARIAS: THE MAN WHO WOULD MAKE PEACE WITH NATURE

It's part of the remarkable legacy of a remarkable man, Oscar Arias.

This is a photo of Oscar Arias, twice President of Costa Rica and one of the truly great leaders of our lifetime.

During his initial tenure, he brokered a Central American peace agreement involving several countries that had been destabilized, in part, as the result of the Cold War between the United States and Russia and torn apart by guerrilla wars.

For that singular accomplishment, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.

Nineteen years later, he ran for President again, this time with a vision to make peace with nature. The result: the "Forever Costa Rica" conservation project, the first of its kind in the world and the model for other countries to emulate.

"Forever Costa Rica" is discussed separately on this website but the words of President Arias are so powerful, so compelling, that they deserve to stand alone as a testament of what one country, one man, seeking peace with nature, can accomplish.

Indeed, the President, while speaking of Costa Rica conservation, outlines a vision for the planet we all live on and love.

It's important enough that we've taken the liberty of publishing his own words.

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"Without any doubt, we are a country blessed by nature. And without any doubt, we are a country of peace. We abolished our army in 1948, declaring peace on the world. We built on that wise decision by spending our money on books instead of weapons, teachers instead of soldiers, national parks instead of army bases. In my country, peace is not just a dream. It is a way of life.

But in today’s world, peace among people is not enough. When I returned to the Presidency in 2006, this was clearer than ever before. As a human race, we cannot keep the peace if we are shooting missiles of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. We cannot keep the peace if we are creating acid rain that falls like bombs upon the Earth.

We cannot keep the peace if we are knocking down forests with tractors the size of tanks, promoting the extinction of many species before we even give them a name. Whether or not we come from countries at war, all of us are waging a war against our planet.

Costa Rica is a small country, but it can be a great leader. Nearly sixty years ago, we became the first nation in the world to abolish our army. Today, we seek to make history once again by becoming the first nation in the world to protect its national wonders, on land and under the sea, in perpetuity. This time, we will not be leading alone. We are joined by our comrades-in-peace, all over the world. We are joined by those who understand that Costa Rica por Siempre is not just an investment in Costa Rica: it’s an investment in our common home, our planet Earth.

Your help will be rewarded by the grateful hearts of my people, but also by something even more important: safe and healthy lives for all of our children and grandchildren.

If we succeed – and we will, for we must – we will take a powerful step towards giving them a future that is green; a planet that is safe and strong; clean air to fill their lungs; and the first global peace that can last forever."---Reprinted from Nature Conservancy

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