El Remanso Lodge (Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica) has been awarded with the “Level 5″ of the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST), a rigorous certification program by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) that evaluates tourism companies’ sustainability practices in natural, cultural and social resource management. El Remanso Lodge implements various sustainability practices such as: utilizing local and sustainable construction materials; progressive waste management to avoid excess waste; banning bottled water; and using fully biodegradable cleaning supplies.

By Megan Coatley

Travelers in Costa Rica have plenty of choices when it comes to surf schools and coastal retreats. But Bodhi Surf School is not just your average surf school; it is a company built on sustainable principles, and with the conscious traveler in mind. Nestled in the heart of the small Pacific fishing village of Uvita, Bodhi’s mission extends far beyond simply getting visitors to stand up on a surfboard. In Sanskrit, the word “bodhi” means “awareness.”

By Vinzenz Schmack

In 1974, I moved to Costa Rica as a bank manager in San José. At the time, the tourism industry hardly existed and nobody imagined that it would play, as today, such a dominant role in the local economy as a major generator of foreign exchange and employment. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would become the owner of a jungle lodge in one of the most remote and most underdeveloped parts of the country and would contribute to the development of this poor region.

Despite covering 0.01 percent of the world’s landmass, Costa Rica’s rainforests and coral reefs are home to close to 5 percent of the planet’s biodiversity. The country boasts 500,000 (and counting) different plant and animal species. Roughly a third of the size of New York state, this small country has coasts on two oceans and six active volcanoes, creating many different microclimates, variable weather (sun and showers seem to swap places every few minutes), and a wide range of ecosystems.

The project to help develop El Tigre into a sustainable community tourism destination met the goals of the Programme for South-South Cooperation (PSC). These goals include: Sustainable tourism, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, Access to Sustainable Energy and Efficient Energy Use, Sustainable Chains of Production and Consumption, and Gender Equity. The three guiding principles of successful PSC project candidates are Equality, Reciprocity and Participation.

The Rainforest Alliance provides tourism entrepreneurs and community-based businesses in Latin America with the tools and training they need to become more environmentally and socially responsible, to compete in the marketplace and to contribute to the conservation of the local cultures and nature. Last year, we launched the Rainforest Alliance Verified program.

The organization Elemento Natural, together with some friends, organized a photo expo, with pictures taken by indigenous children: it was called ‘The communities through the eyes of its children’. For that, we needed to raise money to provide cameras and to visit the communities to give instructions to the children. We chose 2 different schools (Rey Curre and Las Vegas), where we selected 22 students to participate. We gave them disposable cameras and asked them to take pictures of their homes, schools, pets, family, communities, nature.

In 2008, Rios Tropicales, led by co-founder Rafael Gallo, moved into international sustainable community development collaboration by winning a South-South grant for a rural tourism project between Bhutan and Costa Rica. Rios Tropicales has historically kept a low profile about its sustainable tourism practices and philosophy within its company operations and across its local Costa Rican communities.

By Rafael Gallo, Co-Founder, Rios Tropicales – In 1985 Jimmy, Fernando and I started Rios Tropicales because we loved running rivers, we knew our small country of Costa Rica had some of the world’s best paddling in the world, and we wanted to share these rivers with others. It was natural to us to protect the rivers we were running, help the communities we were visiting and train fellow Costa Ricans to do what we were doing. From our years of international paddling experience we knew guide school best practices and started our own guide school right away.

Costa Rica is a small biologically diverse country in Central America, hosting 6% of all the species of flora and fauna on the planet in an area about the size of West Virginia in the USA. Costa Rica has been the global leader in the areas of conservation and sustainable tourism. Throughout its history, Costa Rica has demonstrated its progressive efforts to promote peace, conserve the environment, and strengthen the cultural identity of the Costa Rican through responsibly managed tourism development.