Sustainable Programs

Sustainable Tourism

At Aventuras Naturales, we believe that responsible tourism should benefit local communities and cultures, support conservation of ecosystems and include efforts to mitigate global warming and other environmental problems. We are working to limit the negative impact of our activities and to promote conservation and sustainable development in the areas our tours visit. Our sustainable tourism policy extends from our main office to our vehicles and warehouses, and to our remote Pacuare Lodge and surroundings. We have programs for recycling, reforestation, environmental education, and community development, among other things. The following are some of the steps we’ve taken to date:

In Harmony With Nature

• Aventuras Naturales has purchased 260 hectares (642 acres) of primary rain forest along the Pacuare River – some of which was in danger of being cleared – in order to conserve the area’s wildlife and to offset the atmospheric carbon created by our vehicles.

• We’ve begun reforesting former pastureland near the Pacuare River with native tree species to further offset carbon emissions and improve the ecological health of the Pacuare watershed.

• We have a recycling program that extends from our main office to our warehouses and our lodge. We use reusable plates, cups and cutlery during the lunch served on Pacuare River trips, instead of the disposable plates and cups used by other companies.

• Our Pacuare Lodge was built with a minimum impact on the nearby river and rainforest. No trees were cut to accommodate buildings, which were built using lumber from a reforestation project operated by small farmers. The traditional thatch roofs were made by Cabécar Indians who live in the area using palm leaves they collected in the surrounding forest.

• Water for the lodge’s showers is solar heated and bathrooms are equipped with biodegradable soap and shampoo. All the lodge’s wastewater flows into state-of-the-art septic systems to avoid pollution of the nearby river.

• Lanterns and candles provide light in bungalows and what little electricity we use at the lodge is clean energy generated by a turbine in a nearby stream.

• We are working to have the Pacuare River basin qualify for a Blue Flag, in recognition of its clean environment.

• In the company’s laundry, we monitor and limit water use, and use only biodegradable detergents.

• We use organic products for meals served on tours as much as possible.

• We are supporting biologists in a study of jaguars in the forests along the Pacuare River.

• On July 2008   Pacuare Lodge coordinated and supported the reintroduction of a troop of eight howler monkeys that had been stranded in a flood on a nearby island.  The new group has established itself and a new baby was born.

• We are installing a bio-digester at the Pacuare Lodge to produce gas from organic waste, which will be used for cooking and heating water for bungalows.

Benefiting Communities

Our community program works directly with the people and institutions in villages near the Pacuare River put-in and the Pacuare Lodge. Infrastructure in these isolated areas is scarce and poorly maintained by the government. There are also few employment opportunities in the area, which is why we make a point of hiring local people.

• All of the staff at the Pacuare Lodge is from nearby communities and 95%  of our  rafting guides are from the nearest city, Turrialba.

• We purchase food and other goods from local providers and support organic agriculture.

• We support cultural events in towns near the Pacuare Lodge and the preservation of indigenous traditions in Cabécar Indian communities.

• We donate resources directly to three primary schools located along the Pacuare River and accept donations for the schools from our guests, transferring them in their entirety (no administrative fees deducted) to the school boards.

• We are helping an isolated Cabécar Indian community install a potable water system.

• We rent the lunch spot used on our Pacuare River tours from a Cabécar family, who feed our organic waste to their pigs.

• We provide environmental education and information about sustainable practices to our guests, staff, and people in neighboring communities.