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Organization type: NGO
Profile:
The future of earth’s biodiversity is dependent upon finding ways for humans to profit from their natural resources—without causing their destruction. Seeking this balance, Rare Enterprises—one of Rare’s three principal conservation programs—uses ecotourism to jointly promote economic and environmental sustainability in ecologically fragile places.
The program offers a suite of “tools”—ranging from nature guide training courses to “soft loans” for local entrepreneurs—that help the communities that depend on protected areas develop successful ecotourism programs. For cash-strapped parks, this means generating a new source of income that can be funneled back into conservation projects. For communities in environmentally sensitive places, it means creating alternatives to high-impact fishing, logging, and other harmful activities.
Areas of Sustainable Tourism (ST) expertise:
Rare Enterprises has worked throughout the world and employed a variety of entrepreneurial tools to facilitate the development of sustainable tourism, including the following:
- Community-based enterprise development
- Business and entrepreneurial training
- Nature guide training
- Trail development
- Infrastructure development
- Public use planning
- Conservation promoters training
Particular tourism niches:
Rare has fostered the growth of locally owned enterprises in regions of high biodiversity to ensure that communities impacted by tourism also benefit from the revenue generated by tourism. Rare Enterprises seeks to work with local communities so that they can profit from their natural resources without putting these resources in jeopardy.
Regions worked:
- Africa:
- Asia and the Near East:
- Latin America and the Caribbean:
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
USAID projects:
Rare Enterprises is currently in partnership with the International Resources Group (IRG), the lead contractor in Honduras’ MIRA project. Rare’s contribution is its expertise in training nature guides, and it is currently training a cohort of guides in Honduras who will then work throughout Central America.
Contact:
Aaron Smith
Rare Enterprises
1840 Wilson Blvd., Suite 204
Arlington, VA 22201 USA
Phone: (703) 522-5070
www.rareconservation.org/rare_enterprise.htm
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