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By Thomas Enderlin

As the Costa Rican tourism industry continues to take off, one of the biggest challenges rural communities face is finding a balance between the conservation of traditional ways of life and the need for economic growth. A visionary new agrotourism project in the Dota region of Costa Rica--developed by a group of community leaders and Vancouver Island University--helps rural communities establish financial security, protect the environment and conserve their traditions.

The project is centered on a multi-day trail, known informally as the Los Santos EcoTrail. Descending through the Dota region before arriving at the Pacific Ocean in the city of Quepos, the trail links a handful of small coffee farming communities and homestays. Currently, five Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms are directly involved in the Los Santos EcoTrail project, with many others indirectly benefiting from the gradual growth of community-based ecotourism in the area.

The Dota region is world famous for its top quality coffee production. Here, Rainforest Alliance certification is helping to improve farming practices while reducing environmental impacts and providing economic and social benefits. But volatile coffee market swings and erratic climate patterns make economic diversification an important attribute in the region--and local communities are achieving this critical diversification through small-scale tourism enterprises connected to the Los Santos EcoTrail.

"We really believe in this project, and we are doing this for the future of our children," one community representative explained. "We love our rural way of life, and don't want to see that disappear."

With increasing demands for adventure and culinary tourism and an upswing of consumers interested in purchasing products featuring the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal, projects like the Los Santos EcoTrail will provide opportunities for travelers to take their commitments one step further. These immersive vacations can provide a more direct connection to the origins of certified ingredients while demonstrating how farm and forestry certification benefits local rural communities and biodiversity.

On the trail, visitors also learn how local communities have survived off the land for generations. The people of Providencia still grind their shade grown coffee by hand. The people of Naranjillo let guests test their skills processing sugar cane into juice and crude molasses. Elsewhere along the journey, visitors are invited to make tortillas, learn traditional dances, and make artisanal crafts.

This model of diversified local economics is the future of sustainability. The Rainforest Alliance is currently exploring other agriculture and forestry landscapes that could benefit from small-scale sustainable agrotourism projects so that consumers can have an opportunity to travel to the places where their coffee, tea, and chocolate originate.

For more information on unique agrotourism opportunities, visit the Heart of Gold website.

Thomas Enderlin has a background in conservation, sustainable tourism, commodity trading and agriculture. He is currently based in San José, Costa Rica, where he divides his time as a project consultant, adventure travel guide, photographer, writer and cactus cultivator.

This entry was posted on January 7, 2014 at 1:03 PM and has received 1075 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

High in the Isabelia Mountain Range in northern Nicaragua, there is a tropical cloud forest whose giant oak and fern trees date back to Jurassic times. These ancient trees provide shelter for a multitude of rare and exotic wildlife, including golden-winged warblers, pumas, and mountain lions. As World Migratory Bird Day approaches this weekend, we are celebrating this bountiful region as a haven for thousands of migratory birds that arrive each winter to escape colder northern climates.

Twenty years ago, as forests in the region were being destroyed to be replaced by coffee plantations, two people decided to save this important region. Lili Chavarría, an avid bird lover and ornithologist, and her husband Georges Duriaux, an organic coffee farmer, bought the 260-acre (120-hectare) tract of land from Lili's brother and named it the El Jaguar Private Wildlife Reserve and Organic Farm. Their vision was to create a model of sustainability based on three principles: environmental protection, sustainable production, and social responsibility.

Today, they welcome tourists and researchers to stay at their Rainforest Alliance Verified ecolodge and experience the beautiful flora and fauna that abounds in El Jaguar. Visitors have a choice of staying in one of the two-bedroom cabins or one-bedroom bungalows, or in the biological station with bunk beds. All of the accommodations have hot water and are powered by solar energy.

Visitors can see take tours of Georges and Lili's family-run sustainable coffee farm that produces high quality coffee using environmentally-friendly methods that enhances habitat for wildlife. You'll be able to check out the trees that coffee beans come from--they might look different than you'd expect! Their farm has been certified for sustainability by the Rainforest Alliance and their product was the first coffee selected by Whole Foods Market to receive the Authentic Food Artisan seal. The farm was also designated an "Important Bird Area" by the bird conservation organization BirdLife International.

El Jaguar is home to an abundance of biodiversity, including hundreds of birds, mammals, butterflies, orchids, bromeliads, and dragonflies. Researchers have catalogued all of the species they've come across in El Jaguar – which includes 285 bird species alone -- and the entire list is available on El Jaguar's website. The sheer size of the list gives you an idea of what a biologically rich area this really is! The nearby Lake Apanás is also a wonderful location for bird watching and boat tours.

For a cultural experience, travelers can visit the workshops of the black pottery artisans in Las Cureñas or make the 10-mile hike the picturesque town of San Rafael del Norte.

Georges and Lili were honored by the Rainforest Alliance as stewards of the forest for their work actively safeguarding the "lungs of our planet."

"We realized that in order to conserve our land, we needed to earn income from it," explains Georges. "I had experience with organic coffee production... [and] my wife is fascinated by ornithology and has always been a nature lover. So everything fell into place."

This entry was posted on May 10, 2013 at 11:38 AM and has received 1416 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

An Inspiring Coffee and Sustainability Tour at Finca Rosa Blanca

This past Tuesday, members of the Rainforest Alliance's Costa Rican agriculture and tourism team enjoyed a staff development event at Hotel Finca Rosa Blanca. The aim was to provide a first-hand experience of a Rainforest Alliance Certified^TM coffee farm and Verified^TM hotel to learn more about sustainable practices "in the field."

Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation and Inn

After a beautiful ride through the verdant hills of the Central Highlands of Costa Rica, we arrived at this boutique hotel and organic coffee plantation, making this a perfect location for our outing.

Welcomed by owner Glenn Jampol, we headed to the conference room to learn more about the story of how this impressive location began.

Founded in 1985 as a coffee farm, Glenn and his wife Teri Osman have been committed to conservation from the start. Integrating traditional Costa Rican methods of coffee growing, the farm earned Rainforest Alliance Certification in 2005. Our team learned all about this journey on a tour through the coffee farm, guided by staff biologist Leo, whose passion for coffee was contagious and had all of our mouths watering for a cup of fresh organic coffee!

The owners soon became aware of the estate's potential for hosting tourists. With a constant concern for the environment and local community, this green boutique hotel has managed to achieve not only the maximum of 5 leaves from the national Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) but it is also the first and thus far the only hotel to have obtained a 100% score on all criteria.

Journey to Sustainability

"We are coffee farmers that run a hotel, not the other way round." ~Glenn Jampol

Hearing about the development of this hotel from a sustainable tourism pioneer was truly inspiring. When the owners first embarked on their journey towards sustainability, both Costa Rica as a tourism destination and the concept of sustainable tourism in general were still relatively unknown internationally. Glenn described two events as being vital for attracting international visitors to Costa Rica, and the hotel:

First, the Nobel Prize being awarded to former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias in 1987 brought international attention to the country. Second, a 15-minute video filmed by CNN in Costa Rica about environmental conservation, which featured owner Glenn, among others, brought international interest and visitors to Costa Rica and the hotel. "Guest suggestions have always played an important role in improving the environmental and social practices of the hotel," says Glenn.

Glenn compares his journey towards sustainability to a bus ride - once you get on the bus, you can't get off. After driving enough miles, you no longer want to get off as it becomes obvious that sustainability is the most efficient option and the best solution not only for the natural and social environment, but also for your economic bottom line. Equaling sustainability with efficiency, his positive vision is that one day, all tourism will be sustainable and the label "sustainable tourism" will be redundant.

Social and Environmental Practices

"For our children, sustainability won't be a possibility but the norm." ~Glenn Jampol

Walking through this beautifully designed hotel, it soon becomes clear that sustainability is not simply implemented as a marketing gimmick, it is a way of life here. The walls are decorated with local paintings, about 80 percent of the furniture is purchased locally, and evidence of environmental best practices subtly shows throughout the hotel's premises.

For instance, several solar panels provide the electricity needed to heat water in the hotel, the swimming pool is not cleaned with chlorine but by means of ionization, recycling is part of the culture, the hotel is constructed in a way that enables natural light to enter and thus minimize energy use for lighting, and the majority of employees are from the local area. All these and many more sustainability practices have been implemented over the course of more than 15 years.

Last but not least, a remarkable initiative is the donation of five percent of the income from the bar and restaurant to a local school. Over the years, a wide variety of other projects have been carried out, such as funding a computer room with Internet access, a library, providing sustainability training, and much more. Several of these children are now entering the workforce, carrying with them an environmentally-conscious mindset and many innovative ideas.

Jampol and Osman believe that children are the hope for our future, and with their dedicated efforts, they are certainly helping to plant the seeds for a sustainable one.

This entry was posted on July 1, 2011 at 1:55 PM and has received 586 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.