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What Does It Takes to be Sustainable in Ecotourism? A Park in Costa Rica Shows the Way

It’s not always easy to be eco-friendly or sustainable when running a business, especially in a country like Costa Rica, which sets the bar high for ecotourism.

Costa Rica essentially pioneered the flourishing ecotourism trend nearly two decades ago. Since then, with the many stringent demands of its Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) program, it takes a great deal of commitment, hard work and dedication to authentically be a sustainable eco-friendly business.

Veragua Rainforest Eco-Adventure, a nature and adventure park in Costa Rica’s Caribbean mountains is an ecotourism company striving for the best in sustainability. “We’re located in a poor area that traditionally was involved in logging, mono-agriculture and hunting. We’re turning the region into a conservation-focused area, giving locals jobs and teaching them to protect their resources. We’re very involved in the community with education and infrastructure,” commented Veragua owner Marti Jiménez.

Named the No. 1 of 18 things to do in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica on TripAdvisor, Veragua Rainforest Eco-Adventure is an all-in-one rainforest adventure park with a biology research center, located about an hour inland from the Caribbean port city of Limón. It is an area of breathtaking tropical rainforest bordering the La Amistad International Park, the country’s most remote national park that is shared by both Costa Rica and Panama.

When you visit Veragua Rainforest’s 3,212-acre (1,300-hectare) private reserve, you contribute directly to the planet’s sustainability by helping fund conservation and scientific research that takes place with the Veragua Foundation for Rainforest Research.

Veragua Rainforest is currently awaiting its first Certification for Sustainable Tourism from the Costa Rica Tourism Board. Established in 1999, the program grades the sustainability of a tourism company based on specific criteria such as proper waste management, environmental protection, use of resources, respect for local cultures and support of local communities. The United Nations World Tourism Organization uses the CST program as the model for sustainable tourism practices in Latin America. The five-level rating process is very detailed and involves rigorous demands, frequent inspections and evaluations.

“The CST program fits right in with the triple-bottom-line philosophy (people, planet and profit) we’ve had at Veragua since inception,” says Jiménez.

In addition to being certified sustainable, Veragua is now one of the only tourist adventure parks in Costa Rica using mostly clean energy. Due to Veragua’s remote location, they currently depend on a diesel generator system to supply all of their electricity at the adventure park, which not only is extremely costly but is not eco-friendly. This month, they're installing solar panels on three buildings in key locations on the property.

“Our solar energy project is a huge milestone because we finally will have a renewable source of energy after almost eight years of depending on diesel,” Jiménez observes. “It will allow us to offer 24/7 electricity to our day and overnight visitors, and to avoid frequent, costly, and even urgent maintenance of the diesel generator.”

In other recent news, Veragua Rainforest has constructed a new accessible mini-trail that will let wheelchairs and scooters access both sides of their aerial tram, thereby doubling the frequency of rides for visitors.

And if you have read on TripAdvisor or other travel forums any concerns about the road to Veragua Rainforest, rest easy – the local government recently paved six kilometers of the road from the main highway turnoff, and repaired the remaining six of gravel road. The private road inside Veragua’s gate also received extensive repair and improvement to make transportation to Veragua Rainforest even easier.