In 1998, Costa Rica spread 12,000 tonnes of orange waste; 16 years later, forest biomass rose 176%
An experiment in Costa Rica involving the dumping of 12,000 tonnes of orange waste on degraded land resulted in a 176% increase in forest biomass over 16 years. The project, which faced legal challenges, demonstrates the potential for industrial waste to aid in large-scale ecological restoration.
Why it matters
This provides a successful case study for low-cost, nature-based solutions to land degradation and reforestation.
In the late 1990s, an unusual conservation experiment began in Costa Rica when ecologists proposed using orange peels and pulp to help restore a badly degraded piece of land inside a national park.For this, orange juice company Del Oro and ecologists Daniel Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs, worked with the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), or Guanacaste Conservation Area. According to Princeton University, the company had recently started production near the northern border of the conservation area and was looking for a way to deal with its orange waste.Janzen and Hallwachs proposed a deal wherein Del Oro would donate some of its forested land to the ACG.
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