If you are a business owner participating in the Project for the Implementation of Best Management Practices and Certification Support of Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises, sponsored by the Rainforest Alliance and its partners in Latin America, you may qualify for financial aid to support your efforts to be more sustainable.

The funds are available to business leaders who have already signed an agreement with the Rainforest Alliance and have completed an evaluation can ask for economic support to continue developing and adopting best practices.

Businesses that meet program requirements can obtain up to $2,500, and must put up an equal sum of money, to cover the costs of technical assistance. "The project funds can be used only to pay for professional services and workshops," explains Damaris Chaves, director of the project. This opportunity is available thanks to the support of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund.

Applications for funding will be accepted from now until September 2006. Proposals must be written in conjunction with a technical advisor accredited by the Rainforest Alliance, and will be evaluated throughout this period. Proposals can be submitted to the Rainforest Alliance’s offices in Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala or to the offices of Programme for Belize, in Belize City.

Before awardees sign a letter of co-financing and a contract signed by a certified technical advisor, they should begin their projects. The matching funds will be released from the Rainforest Alliance once the results and benefits of the project have been verified. In addition to financing the implementation of best practices, the fund will also pay the cost of tourism certification for participating businesses.

For more information, please write to sustainabletourism@ra.org.

Since last August, the Oro Verde Hotel in Guayaquil, Ecuador, has been showing off its five-star rating from the Smart Voyager certification program. The seal is displayed in the hotel’s reception area, through printed information in the guest rooms and on the hotel’s stationery.

The hotel invested time and money to earn these bragging rights, but the effort has already paid off. The hotel replaced window panes with a more energy-efficient glass and now saves saves $10,000 on energy costs each month. The new glass keeps air conditioning in and noises out, which adds up not only to savings, but to happier guests.

Nearly every area of the business was transformed. "Our clients don’t notice many of the efforts," says Sergio Rosarios, the hotel’s general manager, "but the environment feels them." Rosarios adds that he is sure the investment in sustainable best practices has boosted the hotel's efficiency.

For thousands of years, until the late 1950s, the Huaorani people of the Ecuadorian Amazon lived in the region as hunters and gatherers without contact with the outside world. Their isolation ended when they encountered oil companies exploring the region’s jungles and missionaries who wanted to change the Huaorani's traditional way of life.

In the 1990’s, Ecuadorian tour operator Tropic Journeys in Nature began building a relationship with the Huaorani, with the goal of educating the public about their culture and the local environment. The company also wanted to help the Huaorani preserve these treasures.

This work earned Tropic a prize in the 1998 TO DO! Contest for Socially Responsible Tourism, which motivated the company to found the first Ecuadorian network for eco-tourism in local communities. Today, Tropic offers 12 similar trips to over 40 local communities throughout Ecuador, from the Andes to the Amazon and from the Galapagos Islands to high-altitude cloud forests. On these trips, travelers can explore nature and learn about local cultures and indigenous peoples’ relationships with the nature. With luck, visitors may meet Moi Enomenga, a Huaorani leader, who is known for his efforts to protect his people’s land from oil exploration. These efforts have been chronicled by author Joe Kane in his book Savages and in a documentary shown on United States television channel NBC.

Recently, Tropic signed an agreement with the Rainforest Alliance confirming the company’s commitment to promote sustainable tourism throughout its marketing chain. We congratulate Tropic for its good work in conserving culture and the local environment and for improving the well-being of local communities.

Recently, Selva Verde Lodge, a certified sustainable tourism hotel in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica, demonstrated its commitment to the neighboring community with a $2,000 donation in support of the "Green Chilamate" program of the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center.

The goal of the Green Chilamate program is to create biological corridors through reforestation with native species on small farms in the area. Local farmers and students in Chilamate, a small community near the lodge, are participating in the project. Planting native trees will bring financial rewards for current and future local residents. Benefits include promoting sustainable forestry and protecting the abundant animal species in Sarapiquí, which attract eco-tourists.

"This alliance is a great example of how eco-tourism businesses and nongovernmental conservation organizations can collaborate to benefit local communities and the environment," explains Greg Basco, director of Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center.

With this initiative, Selva Verde Lodge continues to demonstrate its commitment to enlarge the protected zone around its private forest preserve. Hotel representative Andrea Holbrook described the agreement as crucial for the preservation of Sarapiquí’s rainforests.

Since its founding in 1995, the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center has worked to involve local communities in conservation through education and eco-tourism. In addition to the Green Chilamate program, the organization offers community activities which foment education and support sustainable development in surrounding areas.

The Catalogue of Certified Tourism Products of the Americas has been well received and widely distributed at international events, meetings of the Network for Sustainable Tourism Certification and by tour agencies and certification programs. The public also has sought out the catalog through free downloads from our Web page.

The 85-page full color publication includes information about lodging and activities offered by 141 certified hotels in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Caribbean. The businesses included are certified by programs which are members of the Network.

"The outstanding thing about the catalog is that it’s the first time all the certified products from Latin America have been featured together," says Cristina Suhr, marketing specialist for the Rainforest Alliance.

The building of another vision started more than 30 weeks ago in the shipyards of Guayaquil. After many long days of work and much energy, the dream has come true -- the ship Tip Top IV now peacefully navigates the deep waters of the Galapagos archipelago off the coast of Ecuador. It is the newest boat in a fleet of nine other boats certified by Smart Voyager.

With a capacity of 16 passengers and superior standards for both comfort and safety, the Tip Top IV also has features that indicate commitment to tourism, which contributes to conserving the Galapagos archipelago and the well being of its many very unique inhabitants. A number of parts of the ship and furniture aboard it are made of teak from certified managed forests. An onboard water treatment plant and a diesel purification system control gas emissions.

Enrique Wittmer, general manager of the Rolf Wittmer Galapagos Tourism Company, which owns the Tip Top IV, emphasizes that his business is committed to preserving the environment. He adds that the certification seal is necessary proof of this commitment because more tourists are now looking for certified products when they book their vacations.

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The Rainforest Alliance’s work in sustainable tourism in Latin America is supported by: The Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Ford Foundation, the Overbrook Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, the Global Environment Facility/United Nations Environment Programme, Mitsubishi and others.

© 2006 Rainforest Alliance