Projects > Community Projects
Click the link to the right to jump to community projects supported by each partner company.
Rainforest Expeditions
Founded in 1989 by Peruvian biologists Eduardo Nycander and Kurt Holle, Rainforest Expeditions now operates three award-winning ecolodges in the Peruvian Amazon. The lodges use low-impact construction and offer spectacular views of primary forest and local wildlife, including butterflies, Macaws, and many species of monkeys.
Through a profit-sharing partnership with the nearby indigenous community, Rainforest Expeditions channels income and skills-training toward local families. In 1995, Rainforest Expeditions came to an agreement with the community to built a new lodge on their territory, called Posada Amazonas (now one of three lodges in operation by Rainforest Expeditions). The lodge infrastructure would belong to the community, and profits would be split 60/40 between the community and the company. In 2017, the whole operation would roll over to community control. Presently, community members form part of the ranks of staff and guides at the lodges, lending their own authentic local knowledge to the process of interpretation for visitors. Such jobs allow them firsthand involvement in a business enterprise designed to sustain their environment as well as their way of life.
Rainforest Expeditions supports a number of philanthropic projects, under one umbrella fund:
- The Infierno Community Fund supports the town's school system, building new school infrastructure and expanding academic opportunities for the region's children. A craft collective and cultural revival efforts are also supported through this venture, providing local artisans with tools and training to use their traditional crafts for income generation.
To make a donation to this project, click here: 
Include the project name or Rainforest Expeditions when prompted to specify the recipient of your donation.
Nature Air
Nature Kids is a non-profit organization supported by the Costa Rican airline Nature Air, dedicated to working with low-income families to help develop the tools they need for self-reliant futures. Through English language and community education programs, Nature Kids collaborates with families to bring viable and affordable education to communities throughout Costa Rica.
History
The Nature Kids Foundation began in 2002 with one school house in Salitral de Santa Ana, founded by Mercedes Cerna and Nature Air. The Foundation works with over 200 families, serving individuals from the ages of 5 through 65 years of age. Nature Kids is a communication-based English course with two curricula: one for children K-12, and the other for teenagers and adults. Students are orally assessed each month and given progress reports.
In 2006 Nature Kids opened their second school house in Drake Bay de Puntarenas, chosen because of its geographical location and the need for English education due to its popularity as a tourist destination. In 2007 they began the English on Horseback Program in Los Planes of Drake Bay de Puntarenas, to bring viable English courses to the surrounding communities of Drake Bay which would otherwise be unable to receive English language courses. In 2008 Nature Kids teamed up with The Corcovado Foundation and expanded the English on Horseback Program to the community of El Progresso. The Corcovado Foundation provides training in tourism, hospitality, and environmental protection and specializes in sea turtle refuge programs. By removing the language barrier and providing training in tourism, this program allows locals to have access to the tourist market with an incentive to protect these ancient creatures.
Community Service and Environmental Education:
- Students take field trips through the jungle of Corcovado Park to become aware of the precious resources surrounding their community.
- Each school house has recycling bins in the school so students can learn the importance of recycling and how to separate their garbage.
- Nature Kids holds annual tree planting activities in Salitral.
Future Goals
Each year Nature Kids strives to open a new program. By 2009 they would like to open a third school house in the area of Nosara in the Nicoya Peninsula or Puerto Jimenez in the Osa Peninsula. In addition they are collaborating with Rainforest Alliance and UNESCO to bring an environmental training workshop to the local teachers and community directors of Salitral.
To learn more about Nature Kids, visit their website, www.naturekids.org.
To make a donation to the NatureKids program, click here:
Jungle Bay Dominica
Jungle Bay Resort & Spa (www.junglebaydominica.com) is the brainchild of Dominican born property developer and sustainable development activist Samuel “Sam” Raphael. Jungle Bay’s mission is to enhance the natural environment and improve the livelihood of surrounding communities so that the region is improved in a sustainable way, while providing quality, comfortable nature-based experiences for guests.
The architectural design, planning, construction techniques and operating philosophy are based on principles of fostering social and rural economic development while preserving the culture and natural environment. Jungle Bay is the fulfillment of Sam Raphael’s lifelong dream to demonstrate the financial viability of a tourism investment that provides jobs and economic advancement opportunities for residents of Dominica while preserving the heritage and quality of life of the host community. Sam’s wife Glenda, also Dominican born, is a social worker turned wedding planner & Yoga teacher. Together this innovative couple has been leading the way in the emerging Caribbean Community Tourism Movement. Jungle Bay’s 55-acre site consists of 35 cottages perched in the rainforest canopy on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. The award winning project has been endorsed as a sustainable tourism innovation and leader in poverty alleviation by numerous international publications.
Jungle Bay Community Fund
Donations from guests, staff and owners of the resort have gone directly to important community initiatives, some of which include:
The ‘House of Hope’: a center for social development serving the entire southeast of Dominica. It is community driven and Jungle Bay has adopted it as a priority project since the community is unable to initiate significant fundraising and did not have the capacity to manage the growth of the project. Jungle Bay owners Sam and Glenda Raphael along with several staff are committee members dedicating numerous hours and the required skills needed to develop the project. The House of Hope Center will eventually have 3 major sections as follows:
Phase I (to be complete by Dec. 2008) – A 12-bed facility for disabled orphan children.
Phase II – A facility for indigent elderly persons. Dominica has the highest number of centenarians in the world. However with HIV and other social issues there are often no family members to care for elders.
Phase III – A safe home for battered women and children in crisis.
To make a donation to the House of Hope, click here:
Country Walkers
Country Walkers has led customized walking tours since 1979, now visiting some 70 countries worldwide. They strive to preserve the environment and give back to communities in each of their destinations. They frequently give back to communities both on a small scale (donations to parks and museums they visit) and on a large scale – by sponsoring community efforts:
The Patacancha Dormitory Project began in 2001, when a Country Walkers tour visited with the people of Patachancha, a small village 13,000 feet in the Andes. Moved by the tremendous spirit of those they encountered, guests began asking our guide, “What would this village need?” Our guide, a Peruvian native with more than two decades of guiding experience, asked the Patacancha school principal. He suggested that a dormitory would be a tremendous help to local children in the remote Ollantaytambo district of the Urubamba Valley, the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The school draws students from five surrounding communities. With no public transportation in the region, and a challenging trek by foot amidst chilly temperatures from autumn through spring, low class attendance and retention rates are the norm.
Today, Country Walkers and its guests have donated enough money to fund a two-story, five-room building complete with a basic kitchen. The dormitory is quite modern by local standards, and doubles as a community center and health center. It has electricity (lacking in most village dwellings) and space enough for 20 students during the week. Country Walkers guests have also brought along school supplies and even hand-made quilts for the children.
As we continue to support the estimated 120 students of Patacancha, our projects have grown to include:
- Computers for students – the school has 14, and hopes to have one per student.
- Stocking the new trout farm.
- Outfitting classrooms with sufficient desks and chairs.
- Starting a lunch donation program for the entire school year.
- Starting a sustainable guinea pig and chicken farm, providing meals and valuable skills.
- Building additional toilet facilities and repairing existing ones.
- Purchasing large colored trash containers to introduce the children to recycling.
To make a donation to the Patacancha Dormitory Project, click here:
Safari Ventures
With its global reservations and marketing office in Tampa, FL and Africa Operations based in Tanzania, Safari Ventures provides tours and other travel related programs to the North American market. They focus on custom designed tours to East and Southern Africa. With its owners originally from Tanzania, Safari Ventures provides the access and insights for destinations
that permit their guests to experience the wonderful flavors, diverse culture, animals in their natural habitat and magnificent vistas of Africa. They have offices in New York City and Santa Clara, California as well as affiliate offices in all their destinations.
In 2005, Safari Ventures was awarded Tour Operator of the Year by the Tanzania Tourism Board. This award was based on their unique talent for blending commerce and intellectual tourism, promoting an area not only for its natural beauty, but also making vital business connections, encouraging networking and establishing reliable trading relationships.
Safari Ventures supports local sustainable development through the Africa Nature Conservancy Trust. Currently, Safari Ventures is seeking donations to contribute to the following projects.
- Emboreet Secondary School Construction. Click to donate:
- Simanjiro Water Bore Hole Project. Click to donate:
Click here for a PDF explaining both projects' full budget, local impact, and history.
Holbrook Travel
Near their Selva Verde ecolodge in Costa Rica, Holbrook Travel helped found the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center in 1993. The SCLC serves the local community with programs such as English classes, computer literacy seminars, environmental education of all sorts and after-school activities. The SCLC is currently involved in a number of projects to improve education, environmental stewardship and quality of life in the local community.
Their community work includes:
- Sidewalk Safety Project - Financing sidewalk construction
for schoolchildren and bicyclists. - Rally for Reforestation - Planting 500 native trees in a
previously forested area. - Text Book Package - Donating schoolbooks for student use
outside the classroom. - School Materials - Financing a year's worth of books and
uniforms, one student at a time. - After School Program - Providing supplementary lessons
and learning activities for students. - Environmental Education - Educating elementary school
children about their local area.
Click here for a PDF showing specific project budgets. To make a donation to the SCLC's operating costs or to help with any one of these projects awaiting funding, click one of the buttons above.
Basecamp Explorer
Basecamp Explorer has brought travelers on amazing, responsible and sustainable journeys to Kenya, India, Norway and France for the last ten years.
Basecamp Explorer recognizes the power of ecotourism to provide livelihoods without damaging the environment, and they also understand that livelihoods mean more than just income. Livelihoods mean community, health, education, and opportunities.
In addition, Basecamp Explorer brings tourists into contact with local development efforts, because they understand that tourists from around the world can have a richer, more positive experience on their travels when they can see communities being strengthened through tourism.
Currently, Basecamp Explorer's Kenya location at Masai Mara is supporting a number of local projects tackling some of the most important local issues for nearby communities. These projects include primary school education for Maasai children, a guiding school to train local residents for work as naturalists and tourguides, and a craft project helping to market local handicrafts under a reputable Maasai brand. Visit the links below to learn more, or click a button to donate.
- The Femina HIV Aids Awareness Project Enter Website
- The Maasai Brand Enter Website
- Mara Cheetah Conservation Project Enter Website
- Maasai Education Project Enter Website
Punta Islita Hotel & Spa
Since 1994, Punta Islita hotel and Spa has been offering its guests a high standard of luxury in an environmentally and socially responsible way. The five star beachfront hotel is committed to low-impact, environmentally friendly practices, and maintains active links to local community development efforts and cultural revival projects.
The hotel has helped establish a public library, a composting station and a recycling program in local towns and villages, as well as highlighting local art and culture in visible ways that strengthen the community's enthusiasm for sustainable tourism in their backyards.
All these measures are included within the We Care Responsible Tourism Model, pioneered by Punta Islita.
At present, Punta Islita is collecting contributions from donors to buy art supplies, textbooks, and other educational materials for the local community, as part of their committment to improving local education.
To contribute to Punta Islita's community efforts, click here:
- Rainforest Expeditions
- Nature Air
- Jungle Bay Dominica
- Country Walkers
- Safari Ventures
- Holbrook Travel
- Basecamp Explorer
- Punta Islita Hotel & Spa
This page was last updated September 25, 2008