Tour Operators in the Osa Peninsula Will Receive Valuable Lessons on Sustainability.

Soon, visitors to the southern Pacific’s Osa Peninsula will have better, more eco-friendly information at their fingertips. A new Osa initiative, the Model for Sustainable Marine Tourism in Costa Rica (TMS), will put marine sustainability in the hands of Osa’s own experts, the tour operators.

The Osa Peninsula is Costa Rica’s most biodiverse and rural region. In fact, National Geographic called it “one of the most biologically intense places on earth,” a title that the region holds with pride. Many of Costa Rica’s most endangered and/or shy species are most often seen here, including the brilliant scarlet macaw, puma, jaguars, and harpy eagles. Corcovado National Park, the peninsula’s most famous attraction, is home to the largest expanse of lowland tropical rainforest in Central America. In addition, Corcovado is one of the tallest rainforests in the entire world.

The Osa Peninsula, though small in area, seems vast and large in-person. To its north lies Drake Bay, off its western shore floats the beautiful Isla del Caño, and to its south east, Puerto Jiménez. Many tourists who explore Osa do so from Drake Bay, a small town that can only be reached by boat or air. Puerto Jiménez, on the other hand, is one of the largest towns on the peninsula, and another great place to base a vacation. Visitors to both towns enjoy incredible nature walks, dolphin and whale tours, and world-class diving and other marine activities.

To protect this natural diversity and rich beauty, the Promar Foundation began the TMS initiative. The foundation plans to prepare the region’s tour operators and tourism professionals for proper, responsible, sustainable tourism, and the communities of Bahía, Sierpe and Drake will be the main areas targeted. After training, the initiative’s tour operators will police their own communities, leading by example. The goal of the initiative is to apply better sustainability practices, therefore helping protect the Osa’s vast coral reefs, as well as its dolphin and whale populations.

“The country does not have the logistical or economic capacity to watch over things in the necessary way. For this reason, the best alternative that we have right now is that those same tour operators — the ones that know the most about the species — create their own word code and carry it out,” president of Promar, Javier Rodrígues, commented. Indeed, operator cooperation will go a long way in Osa, and shared information can only help the peninsula. Among other plans, the initiative will create a large database that tracks nature tourism – which species are seen, when, where, and how much money is made from their observation.

The region currently brings in more than $5 million in tourism each year, but there are no regulations in place to maintain a stable ecosystem and preserve the peninsula for future enjoyment. In this way, Promar hopes to arm Osa’s tour operators with the skills and tools necessary to protect their environment and their livelihood. If you have plans to visit the Osa Peninsula in the coming months, do your part and work only with informed, responsible tour operators.

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Filed under: Travel on September 12th, 2008