Costa Rica – Showing the Way?

Marino Ballena National Park, South Pacific

Of the many countries where hotels, lodges, and resorts are doing good things, practicing their own version of sustainability, one in particular has long stood out – Costa Rica. Glenn Jampol, the owner of Finca Rosa Blanca, has been in the frontline of this movement, and he and wife Teri have two lodges and a coffee farm where they try to do the right thing for the environment and the community without sacrificing quality. In a Q&A with A World Different, Jampol explained more about Costa Rica’s policies.

AWD: How long has Costa Rica been on the sustainable tourism path?

Jampol: Officially since 1995, when the Certification of Sustainable Tourism was initiated. However, there had been some other incentives in the works before that, including one called Green Note, which converged in 1995 with the CST.

AWD: What has been achieved?

Jampol: Costa Rica has created a model for bringing government and the private sector together in a way that understands Costa Rica’s strengths and offers a longterm plan for maintaining (read sustaining) the niche and attraction that brings tourists here. In the last 10 years the interest among tourism entities has increased tremendously and includes every level, from the Four Seasons Papagayo down to the 3- or 4-room ecolodges in the jungle.

The CST is renowned in the tourism world as being the strictest and most comprehensive tourism certification system, and if it can evolve at the same rate it has been until now, it will continue to be so. Also the government has created support and incentive programs for tourist entities that show a great insight and long-range vision. Costa Rica understands that its tourism earnings, the second-biggest revenue producer in the country, are based on the reputation, credibility, and creativity of its environmental, cultural, social, and service-oriented sustainability.

The Four Seasons Papagayo

AWD: How many hotels are involved?

Jampol: There are about 150 hotels with CST ranking. Of those only seven have 5 green leaves, meaning a score of 95 percent or more on all four categories.

Also, there are 25 tour operators who also have CST ranking, although obviously with different parameters. Soon transportation and rental cars will be included.

AWD: Can you mention some notable programs?

Jampol: Through a gas tax the government pays landowners a yearly fee per hectare not to cut down trees, which has encouraged new planting. In the last 20 years Costa Rica has increased its green coverage by more than 20 percent due in great part to this program as well as to tourism entities that build on a small parcel of the available land and then reforest and protect the rest.

Bandera Azul Ecologica – a.k.a. the “Blue Flag” – is an incentive to hoteliers, tourism chambers, and coastal communities to protect the beaches of Costa Rica in a comprehensive manner. This incentive is an adaptation of the Blue Flag awarded by the European Union since 1985. Annually the quality of beach water is evaluated to make medical diagnoses and protect the health of visitors to coastal areas. The Blue Flag is awarded to a community that satisfies the quality aspects of sea water, beach quality, access to drinking water, wastewater treatment, environmental education, security, and administration.

Guayabo National Monument, Central Valley

Finca Rosa Blanca has two Blue Flags, for climate-change efforts through its reforestation and and its work in the community. It also has a Green Ecological Flag, which is a new program that recognizes the cleanliness and quality of restaurants and bars and their sustainable water use.

A new program under the National Chamber of Ecotourism, of which I am the president, aims to offset the carbon footprint for a tourist’s trip to Costa Rica. Each link in the tourism supply chain will pay a proportional fee. This will actually be a lot cheaper than it sounds – maybe $0.72 per hotel guest.

AWD: How heavily is government involved?

Jampol: The new president, Laura Chinchilla, and her cabinet have officially announced that sustainable tourism and the CST are the official policy, and the tourist board has a minister, Carlos Ricardo Benavides, who is personally committed and dedicated to this evolution as a country. Furthermore, the national banks, for the most part, have instituted environmental indicators, which clients must full out before the banks will give them loans for development.