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Organization type: NGO
Profile:
The Rainforest Alliance’s Sustainable Tourism Program works with tourism entrepreneurs and community-based businesses in Latin America, providing them training and information on environmentally and socially sound management to help them gain access to and be more competitive in the marketplace, while contributing to the conservation of the local culture and nature.
At a local level, the Rainforest Alliance they provide support to tourism entrepreneurs through training workshops and seminars, and provide technical assistance on best management practices, certification, management, and marketing. More than 1,000 organizations have participated in the more than 50 training activities provided by the Rainforest Alliance.
Regionally, the Rainforest Alliance is working to integrate certification programs in the Americas, through the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas, and in the international arena it promotes sustainable tourism by collaborating with businesses that use best management practices and certification as strategic tools.
Areas of Sustainable Tourism (ST) expertise:
The Rainforest Alliance’s work in tourism has been commended and supported by the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). During the past seven years, the Rainforest Alliance has leveraged its experience in sustainable forestry and agriculture management and certification to design initiatives aimed at increasing the competitiveness and market access of sustainable tourism operations. The Rainforest Alliance coordinated a pilot certification program in the Galapagos, and best management practices (BMP) workshops in Central America. In addition, the Rainforest Alliance, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), implemented the market access component of the USAID Central American Project for Protected Areas and Environmental Marketing: PROARCA/APM. The Rainforest Alliance is now leading the next major steps in the creation of a Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council, an accreditation body for sustainable tourism certifiers that is vital for establishing credibility and international recognition to tourism certification standards and programs.
Particular tourism niches:
Beginning in 1998, efforts by the United Nations Environment Programme, the Rainforest Alliance and others have helped to analyze the wide range of existing tourism eco-labeling initiatives. The participants of the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Certification Workshop convened by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) in November 2000, with participation from twenty countries and representatives from most of the leading global, regional, national, and sub-national sustainable tourism and ecotourism certification programs, agreed on minimum standards that sustainable tourism certification should address. The product emerging from that meeting, known as the Mohonk Agreement, outlined the fundamental Principles of Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Certification. In this context the Rainforest Alliance proposed to study the feasibility of a Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council (STSC) to act as an accreditation body for sustainable tourism and ecotourism certification programs. The attendants of this workshop unanimously endorsed this proposal.
The Rainforest Alliance subsequently completed the feasibility study for the STSC, which determined that there exists a strong demand for technical assistance in best management practices and certification from national and regional tourism initiatives, social and environmental NGOs, and tourism operators. National initiatives are asking for assistance with policy, standards and indicators, certification processes, and marketing and business planning. Operators are asking for help with improving environmental and social management techniques, and marketing their sustainable operations. Local, national, and international NGOs are asking for support with designing credible best practices and certification schemes for their geographic regions of concern.
With support from the Ford Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank, the Rainforest Alliance is now working to maximize the tourism industry’s potential for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development throughout Latin America, by leading the next major steps in the creation of the global STSC to establish credibility and international recognition for tourism certification standards and programs. The Rainforest Alliance, in close collaboration with UNEP, TIES, and the IPS, will guide and shape the development of national and global certification and accreditation programs along a path that is transparent, democratic, and involves multiple stakeholders.
The Rainforest Alliance has also launched a Sustainable Tourism Network of the Americas with more than two dozen members, representing the leading certifying bodies in tourism across the region.
Regions worked:
- Latin America and the Caribbean:
- Belize
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- Guatemala
Recent projects:
- Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador: International Accreditation System and Consolidation of National Systems for Sustainable Tourism Certification to Facilitate SME and Market Access (2003-2007)
- Local-level work
The Rainforest Alliance, in coordination with local partners, will conduct a series of pilot activities to increase the competitiveness and market access of SMEs in priority areas of Nicaragua. The pilot activities that the Rainforest Alliance is developing in other Central American countries will also act as models for the development of sound, credible certification activities in Nicaragua.
- Regional-level work
Through the project’s direct participation in the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas. The Rainforest Alliance will: (1) provide technical assistance for the consolidation of the certification activities; (2) foster communication with existing certification groups; and (3) engage in outreach and promotion directed at regional stakeholders.
- International-level work
The STSC feasibility study proposed a three-tiered implementation strategy, which aims to improve the status quo of certification programs and addresses different issues affecting tourism certification. Strong links with this international initiative will be kept to ensure that the results of the technical assistance activities that this project proposes to develop will feed into the creation of the STSC. Additionally, targeted promotional work will be take place at international fora and key tourism events.
- Central America - IR2 Component of PROARCA/APM: Protected Areas and Environmentally Sound Products (2001-2004)
The Rainforest Alliance partnered with WWF and TNC to manage the five-year USAID Regional Environment Program for Central America, PROARCA/APM. The Rainforest Alliance was responsible for the sustainable agriculture and tourism components of this project. The focus areas for PROARCA/APM include four important functional landscapes that intersect Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and El Salvador. The Rainforest Alliance has concentrated its sustainable tourism activities in the Gulf of Honduras and the Amistad-Cahuita-Rio Caņas functional landscapes through the development and dissemination of Best Management Practices, better understanding about sustainable tourism certification, and increased market access for certified operations.
The activities developed by the Rainforest Alliance in the framework of PROARCA/APM have provided support for:
- Creating a regional platform of marketable, sustainable products;
- Strengthening rural enterprises by creating tools and giving technical assistance to help them compete in the marketplace;
- Protecting key watersheds by supporting responsible tourism operations and the implementation of BMPs; and
- Positioning the Central America region as an environmentally and socially responsible destination.
Recent ST partnerships and collaborations:
- World Tourism Organization’s Sustainable Tourism Unit (WTO)
- United Nations Environment Programme/Division of Technology, Industry & Economics - Tourism Programme (UNEP DTIE)
- International Social & Environmental Accreditation Labeling Alliance (ISEAL)
- Asociación Ecuatoriana de Ecoturismo (ASEC)
- Programme for Belice (PfB)
- Consejo Brasileño de Turismo Sostenible (CBTS)
- Certificado para Sostenibilidad Turística (CST)
- The International Ecotourism Society (TIES)
- Conservación y Desarrollo (C&D) in Ecuador
- Green Deal/Alianza Verde in Guatemala
- Instituto de Hospitalidade (IH) in Brazil
- Conservation International
- The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)
Contact:
Rainforest Alliance
665 Broadway, Suite 500
New York, NY 10012 USA
Phone: (212) 677-1900
www.rainforest-alliance.org/programs/tourism/index.html
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