Friends of the Environment

C.S.T (Certification in Sustainable Tourism)

Nature is the greatest privilege that we have on Earth, which is why our hotel is committed in helping to protect our planet by practicing environmentally friendly activities and is part of the Sustainable Tourism Certification (CST), a conservation program created by the ‘Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT)’. We incorporate CST in our goals to reduce the environmental impact of our operations and protect the valuable natural resources of La Fortuna.

We invite you to take part in our sustainanility project “Friends of the Environment” through our sustainable practices:

• Reducing organic waste by composting for the maintenance of our gardens and feeding of pigs from local farms.
• Solar panels used for water heating.
• "Pura Vida La Fortuna" This program, promoted by our staff, promotes the beautification and cleanliness of the town of La Fortuna, giving priority to rivers and roads. We want to contribute and give back to the environment and the community.
•  Recycling Program.

  The Association of Single Women of Z13 is headed up by Ms. Luisa Varela and Ms. Isabel Gutierrez, who have taken the courageous decision to clean up their community and surrounding communities by collecting and separating recyclable waste products in the La Fortuna area. This difficult labor is the product of courage and dedication, intending to contribute to the control of the alarming population increase in our community, at the same time, contributing to low income families and the local orphanage and safe house, put in place to educate and protect abandoned children.
  Montaña de Fuego Hotel&Spa as a consequence of its firm dedication to the social well being and its sustainable philosophy, fully supports this initiative.
  On our property, you will find waste receptors thoroughly identified for each type of waste disposal (glass, plastic, aluminum, organic). These waste products are then separated and packed to be given to the single women of this project to begin the recycling process.

• Commitment to local arts and culture. Our partnership with a group of local artisans of the area aims to promote art and help them sell their products in the tourism sector. The hotel offers craft workshops taught by some of the artisans of the group. Ask for our workshops and learn how to make crafts with reusable materials!

• Operating Certified Carbon Neutral adventure tours and Philanthropic Programs. You can help the children's foster home in La Fortuna, local schools, school canteens, colleges, farmlands, less-fortunate families, cleaning rivers and streets.

• "Planting and helping the environment one tree at a time" Program.  This project was initiated under the premise of creating environmental awareness and helping our beautiful and unique planet to recover. We know there is a real need for environmental awareness, so together with the ‘Banco Internacional de Árboles (BIA)’,  we have created programs that educate visitors to Costa Rica on the environment and teach methods of mitigating your carbon footprint by integrating small and simple changes in our everyday lifestyle. With our first program of reforestation and by the help of our customers, we have successfully reforested more than 40 hectares of forest.

• The Code of Conduct.

  All over the world, children are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation. A widespread global child sex trade has been established. Demand has increased, resulting in increased supply. The commercial sexual exploitation of children often occurs openly without government reaction or with governments preferring to "look the other way".
  Since the beginning of the 1990s, the commerce of sex with children has been brought more and more into focus by various sectors of society all over the world. According to a UNICEF estimate in 1988, more than two million children in the world are annually forced into commercial sexual practices. This exploitation occurs in all countries, mainly in South-East Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. The Western world accounts for the greatest demand for child sex.
  The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism (the Code) is an industry-driven multi-stakeholder initiative which seeks to increase protection of children from sex tourism. The companies - tour operators and their umbrella organizations, hotels, travel agents, airlines, etc. - which endorse the Code, commit themselves to implement the following measures:

1. To establish an ethical policy regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children.
2. To train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations.
3. To introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers, stating a common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children.
4. To provide information to travellers by means of catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc.
5. To provide information to local "key persons" at the destinations.
6. To report annually.

The Code is acknowledged by UNICEF and the World Tourism Organization as the primary international tool for the prevention and combating of child sex tourism by the travel and tourism.

• Power Point Presentation
• Manual