A green country, as it is presented in tourist brochures.

Both for its vegetation, its fauna and its flora.

A green country also in terms of renewable energy since more than 90

% of electricity is green

 When I got off the plane in San José, the capital, what struck me was the smell.

The smell of pollution.

In recent years, the car fleet has grown enormously, but the infrastructure has not kept pace

On the road that took me to the Caribbean coast, I was really surprised by these hectares and hectares of palm and pineapple plantations and by the smell that emanates from them.

This smell is due to the pesticides used in mass.

Fertilizers prohibited in other countries of the region, but authorized in Costa Rica.

They have direct consequences on the health of the populations living around these plantations 

 In order to be able to plant more and more, the big producers need land and to get it, they cut down trees.

As it is illegal, some create fires, there are no more forests and therefore no more land to protect under the law.

The system persists and the authorities let it happen

Ecology, the defense of the environment, this was not part of his campaign themes.

One of its first decisions was to turn its back on years of a common environmental protection policy.

He decided not to ratify the Treaty of Escazu, the first environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean adopted in 2018. This earned him the nickname of anti-ecologist president

What struck me was that one of the main economic resources of the country is eating into this other wealth that is tourism. 

However

it is also through tourism, more precisely through ecotourism, that the country will also be able to overcome the economic crisis it is going through.

I have met several people who are actively campaigning to raise awareness among producers

This neighborhood is more of a favela than a neighborhood.

The people who arrived there several years ago built housing on land that did not belong to them.

Today, they are marginalized by the authorities and forgotten by the green energy system.

 Fortunately, there are associations that set up programs.

Including awareness programs for children, so that they are aware of the importance of their natural resources and what the country can offer compared to those who do not have the chance to