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Chiquita Receives 2006
Contribution to Community Award
Costa Rica president, Oscar
Arias, presented the "2006
Contribution to the Community
Award" to Chiquita Brands
International on behalf of the
American-Costa Rican Chamber of
Commerce (AmCham), in
recognition of Chiquita's Nature
& Community Project, an
initiative designed to preserve
biodiversity, promote nature
conservation awareness among the
local population and create new
sources of income for people in
the community.
"We are delighted to be able to
present Chiquita with this prize
in the large company category",
said Linda Solar, executive
director of AmCham. "The
Nature & Community Project is a
leading example of how a
collaborative approach can
benefit both the environment and
communities".
AmCham created the Contribution to the Community Award 10 years ago to
honor companies that have a
positive impact on their
surroundings and invest in
improving the environment both
for the company's employees and
for the community.
Chiquita's Nature and Community
Project developed with the
support and cooperation of
independent partners, including
Swiss retailer Migros,
international environmental
protection organization
Rainforest Alliance, and German
Technical Cooperation GTZ
contributes to the protection of
the exceptional biodiversity of
the region by encouraging local
communities and farmers to
actively participate in the
protection of rainforests and
the many species which depend on
them.
The project, which started in
September 2003, is based at
Chiquita's Nogal farm in the
Sarapiquí region in
northeastern Costa Rica.
More than 100 hectares of
protected rainforest on this
farm were designated as a
private wildlife refuge by the
Costa Rican government in
January 2006. To facilitate the
migration and survival of
endangered species, this forest
will be connected with other
forest areas of the region,
including the Braulio Carrillo
national park, 8 km. away. To
date, the creation of this
biological corridor has involved
the planting of 10,000 trees of
more than 40 native species.
Local farmers are contributing
to this effort by providing land
for reforestation.
Environmental education for
schoolchildren, neighbors and
Chiquita's own employees plays
an important role in this work,
since the support of the local
population is essential for
long-term environmental
conservation. Nearly 3,000
visitors have already
participated at workshops
provided at the Nogal project
center.
The creation of new economic
opportunities, such as
ecotourism and arts and crafts
based on environmental
protection, is another important
aspect of the project. So far,
five small businesses have been
established with assistance of
the project, and their sales of
us$35,000 have contributed to
the income of many families in
neighboring communities.
"We see great potential in Nogal
as a model for developing
on-farm forest reserves and for
connecting these private
reserves with national parks
through biological corridors,"
said Chris Wille, chief of
sustainable agriculture for the
Rainforest Alliance.
Rainforest
Alliance-participating farmers
are demonstrating that farms can
be good neighbors to communities
and can participate in local and
regional efforts to conserve
ecosystems and biodiversity.
"We are delighted to receive
this award from AmCham, and
accept it on behalf of all the
partners involved in this
project," said Jennifer Dinsmore,
project manager at the Nogal
reserve.
"With this pilot project, we
want to demonstrate that when
businesses, local communities
and the authorities work
together as we do here, it
becomes possible to contribute
to the protection of the
precious natural heritage of our
region."
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