A Bahamian environmentalist says Costa Rica has shown every country in the Caribbean that preserving natural beauty pays, appealing to visitors who treasure flora, fauna and natural wonders above t-shirts and trinkets.

Lindsey McCoy, who was appointed chief executive of the fast-growing environmental movement, Save The Bays, earlier this year, commented on the model Costa Rica has created after returning from her recent re-discovery tour of the country that extends from the Atlantic on one coast to the Pacific on the other, with a central mountain range overlooking its coastlines.

“And with only a tiny fraction of the world’s land mass, Costa Rica holds 6 per cent of the world’s biodiversity,” said Ms McCoy. “The jungles, the forests, the monkeys, the crocodiles – everything still has the feeling of being a little wild.

“Perhaps because they have done such a remarkable job of preserving what they have, especially the forests, they have created an oasis that appeals to anyone who wants to experience a place where the beauty of the natural world is all around you. We can do that here, too. We have so much to work with.”

Costa Rica was not always the poster country for good environmental management. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was paying the price for deforestation from massive tree cutting to make room for cattle grazing. Coastlines were eroding. The land, along with the variety of flora and fauna, was declining faster in 20 years than it had in 100s.

The political will to reverse the process, said Ms McCoy, spawned more than a decade of revival. Costa Rica signed on to 45 international treaties, created and funded a new environment and energy department, enacted legislation with strong regulations, and won the buy-in from hoteliers and others in hospitality.

That about-face netted dramatic results.

Today, Ms McCoy said 25 per cent of the land is in national parks. Ninety-two percent of the electricity is generated by renewable sources.

“Even more exciting is that once their policy changed and they realised the value of protected land, they were able to restore much of the forests they had lost to logging and agriculture,” said Ms McCoy.

“I have always respected Costa Rica for its focus on eco-tourism and promoting its natural resources, but when I started reading more about the country I realised its commitment to the environment goes even deeper...clean energy, paying for environmental services and policy to go carbon neutral.”

It was Costa Rica, Ms McCoy said, that created the Certification for Sustainable Tourism, now a badge of honour sought after by those in the hospitality industry in many countries.

“The message is that Costa Rica took action to restore and protect what it knew made it a desirable tourist destination and a great place to live,” said Ms McCoy. “The promise of a quick dollar from a developer paled by comparison to the promise of a life of beauty for the country. They understood that you did not have to give up jobs and economic growth to achieve tourism success. Just the opposite. Create the right environment and they will come.”