Just as Costa Rica's leaders boast of world reputed green policies and ambitious goals toward “carbon neutrality,” its neighbor Nicaragua's carbon footprint grows ever deeper.

Nicaragua emits six times more greenhouse gas than last year because of the destruction of forests left by Hurricane Felix, say environmental experts.

Amado Ordóñez, associate director of the Humboldt Center in Nicaragua, said that because of its poor handling of its forests Nicaragua “has become a high carbon-emitting country.”

In September Felix leveled more than 700,000 hectares of forest in Nicaragua, Ordóñez noted at a press conference Tuesday in Managua.

He lamented that the government had not begun a major reforestation process and seemed to have no strategy to rebuild the forests in the future, necessary to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions.