Costa Rican private airline NatureAir celebrated the environmental conservation award it recently received at a press conference Tuesday and called on other Costa Rican companies to join in the effort to reduce their carbon footprints.
Upon being given the 2009 Conservation Award from the World Travel and Tourism Council, NatureAir became the first airline to win salutations of that nature, said Carlo Sosto, general manager of the airline.
“We are very proud of the award,” said Sosto. “It is an award also for the country, not just our company.”
Founded in 2000, NatureAir is the first airline in the world to become “carbon neutral.” By working with the government’s National Forestry Financing Fund, the company figures out how much land it needs to protect and reforest in order to offset its carbon emissions of the previous year.
“The amount of land we protect cleans or neutralizes the amount we consume,” said Sosto.
The company invests in primary forests in the OsaPeninsula, on the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, and has protected close to 250 acres of forest so far.
– Daniel Shea
