Europe's most sustainable country

[Cypress]

Money quote for me: 40 percent of this nation is under some form of conservation protection.

Having 40 percent of the United States under some form of conservation protection would go a long way towards preserving our natural heritage and our sustainability. I cannot see a significant downside to doing it, other than some rich people and resource extraction corporations losing some money.

Here is Europe's most sustainable country

Lush forests cover more than half of Slovenia, an Adriatic enclave of surprising biodiversity.

Over the centuries, some of Europe’s most powerful empires—Roman, Byzantine, and Austro-Hungarian, among them—have made their mark on the region that now includes Slovenia. In recent years, this small nation (it’s nearly the size of New Jersey) has commanded an authority of its own as a global leader in conservation. Named the planet’s most sustainable country in 2016, Slovenia has scores of protected reserves and parks across a rolling topography dense with around 22,000 recorded flora and fauna species. More than half the land is covered in forests.

“Slovenians have always been closely connected to the land,” says Jana Apih, a partner and founder at Good Place, a Ljubljana-based travel agency and institute dedicated to sustainable tourism. “Throughout history, we were more or less peasants; the land was key to our survival. I usually say we have a green DNA because the worst thing a Slovenian can think of is to destroy nature. That is why nearly 40 percent of Slovenia is under some kind of protection.”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...nia/beautiful-photos-of-sustainable-slovenia/