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Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas Launched in BrazilOctober 23, 2003 The first Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas was launched on September 30th, 2003, at the Regional Conference of the Americas on Sustainability Certification of Tourism Activities in Bahía, Brazil, organized by the World Tourism Organization (WTO), and hosted by the Instituto de Hospitalidade and the Brazilian Government. The network constitutes one of the components of an international partnership effort lead by the Rainforest Alliance, the World Tourism Organization, The International Ecotourism Society and the United Nations Environment Program to promote integration of sustainability into tourism policies and higher environmental and social standards for tourism. The launch of this network brought together representatives from leading certification programs in the region and other supporting organizations to exchange their own experiences related to certification and to define common objectives.
Sustainable tourism certification is viewed as one of the tools that can help ensure environmental and social responsibility among tourism operations, particularly in fragile areas that are rich in plant and animal species and threatened with destruction. “While tourism can produce serious negative impacts for local people and the environment, it has the potential to provide incentives for conservation and for local communities when it is properly developed and managed,” said Rainforest Alliance Executive Director Tensie Whelan. The growth of nature-related tourism has spurred the development of an ever-increasing number of independent certification programs, all making their own concerted efforts to control unchecked development and to foster responsibility among so called eco-establishments. The network recently created is intended to encourage dialogue among these various participants and to act as a regional clearinghouse for certification information and technical assistance. “This network presents an opportunity for governments, non-profits and other stakeholders in the region to share ideas and to work collaboratively to help small and medium sized, locally based tourism operations to better their livelihoods and to protect natural resources in the process,” explained Whelan. Participants at the network launch meeting defined their mission as follows: “To promote sustainable tourism in the region through the strengthening of tourism initiatives based on mutual respect and recognition, joint efforts, harmonization (balancing) of systems and the sharing of information and experience.” Network objectives include the establishment of common work tools among network members and a joint marketing strategy, the generation of a set of “best management practices” for sustainable tourism based on existing regionally and nationally accepted standards, and the definition of strategies to promote the participation of tourism operations, focused on small scale operations, to implement best practices and certification processes. The network grows out of the Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council (STSC) feasibility study, coordinated by the Rainforest Alliance, which presented its final conclusions in early 2003. An 18-month worldwide consultation process concluded that there is a need to create regional platforms to disseminate information about certification and to address key issues such as the participation of small and medium-sized and community based certification operations, financial sustainability, marketing, monitoring and evaluation and accreditation. “The network is an effort to implement the recommendations of the STSC study and to begin addressing issues with those directly involved with certification initiatives in the Americas” stated Ronald Sanabria, Sustainable Tourism Director at the Rainforest Alliance. The Rainforest Alliance will serve as the initial secretariat for this network. Through national liaisons, the network encourages participation of representatives from a variety of stakeholder groups and welcomes all initiatives that are managing certification programs in the region. Representatives from the following organizations and institutions participated in the launch of the network:
For more information, contact Milagro Espinoza in Costa Rica at mespinoza@ra.org or Gretchen Ruethling in New York at gruethling@ra.org.
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