Guest Information Welcome Welcome to the Lapa Rios Lodge and Nature Reserve. We are so happy to be sharing our valuable piece of rain- forest with you. Lapa Rios is a very special place, almost untouched in nature, located in one of Central America’s last remaining lowland tropical rainforests. While enjoying your stay in the rainforest, we ask that you respect this peaceful and pristine environment and keep in mind that this is one of the last places on Earth in which people and nature are still living together in harmony. Remember: Lapa Rios is not a zoo – the creatures that live in this forest are here in their natural habitat. We are in fact their guests. Please be careful to tread lightly and listen to the forest. It has an amazing story to tell. And please, don’t hesitate to let us know if there is anything you might need to make your stay with us the best it can be. Pura Vida, Maureen Montenegro Resident Manager & the Lapa Rios staff Squirrel Monkey Who We Are In 1995 the founders of Lapa Rios envisioned a destination that was off the beaten path, where they would have the oppor- tunity to make a significant difference for environmental conservation and the local population. The Osa Peninsula was just that. Working with the surrounding community, they built the 17-room Lodge by hand, using exclusively locally harvested renewable materials. Today, Lapa Rios is recognized worldwide as an example of successful eco-tourism, a model in which wilderness preserva- tion as well as guest and staff education is essential to its operation. Since its inception our lodge has embodied an innova- tive commitment to protecting natural and cultural heritage. The Lapa Rios Reserve is protected with a conservation land easement in perpetuity. In 2019, the founders and owners of Pacuare Lodge acquired Lapa Rios. While the lodges are located in different locations within Costa Rica, they share many similarities. Both are surrounded by distinctive rainforest ecosystems harboring as- tonishing biodiversity, and by joining forces they have effectively doubled-down on their commitment to our planet with a total of 740 hectares (1850 acres) of pristine tropical rainforest under protection. While nature and conservation is at the heart of our two lodges, the human element is also of fundamental importance, and are amongst the primary employers in their surrounding communities providing key economic development to support their environmental efforts. Pacuare Lodge and Lapa Rios are also both founding members of National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World, and have been recognized for the tremendous efforts as pioneers in luxury and sustainable travel to some of the world’s most remote and biodiverse tropical rainforest ecosystems for the past 25+ years. Mission, Vision & Values Here at Lapa Rios, we believe that no matter how you cut it, a rainforest left standing is worth more. We strive to protect and preserve our more than 1,000 acres of primary and secondary rainforest, to integrate and assist the local community through basic education and job training, and to create an intimate guest experience that is not only luxurious, but educa- tional as well. In short, we strive to use tourism to acquire and protect the endangered rainforest instead of allowing it to take a toll on this precious and finite resource. We value the commitment to sustainability and the pursuit of excellence, as we strive to operate in complete harmony with the world around us. Our adherence to these values is reflected in the way our facilities are designed and operated: we tend to and respect the wildlife and natural setting of the Lapa Rios Reserve, we utilize renewable materials for sustainable and low-impact construction, we produce our energy with hydroelectric nano turbines and photovoltaic systems, we promote the use of biodegradable products, organic foods, and organic and local production while minimizing the use of chemicals, we maintain the highest standard in waste recycling programs, we use exclusively local staff in our operations, and we edu- cate our staff, our local community, and you, our guests, about sustainability, cultural, and environmental concerns. Three-Toed Sloth Sustainability & Conservation Sustainability is more than just efficient management of resources. It is a way of operating our property. Lapa Rios imple- ments a series of processes and technologies to measure natural resource use and environmental impact. Among our many sustainable practices, the electricity we use at the lodge is clean energy generated by hydroelectric nano turbines and solar panels, manage an on-site garden, use biodegradable cleaning products and sun-dry our laundry under transparent plastic roofs, heat water with solar panels, use ionization to clean our pool, and carefully control our waste water with our own water treatment centers, feed organic waste from our restaurant to pigs from which we capture and produce biogas. Beyond hotel operations, Lapa Rios teamed up in 2020 with the International Wildlife Management Institute (ICOMVIS) at Costa Rica’s National University (UNA) for a project to assess the status of jaguars and other large mammals in the rainforest that lines the Corcovado National Park. We give back to the community by hiring and training staff from the surrounding communities, building and continuing to support the Carbonera Primary School, supporting local biological conservation research programs, supporting local artisans, and maintaining our commitment to educate our guests as well as the surrounding community about environmental conservation. To learn more about our sustainability efforts,we highly encourage you to take our complimentary sustainability tour. While you are here, we hope you will participate in our pas- sion for sustainability by turning off the lights and fans when leaving your bungalow, reusing your pool towels when possible, and minimizing the amount of solid waste you leave behind in the Osa. On behalf of the rainforest, we are truly grateful for your consideration. Why Lapa Rios? Lapa Rios Lodge and Reserve connects the ocean to the spine of the Osa Peninsula and contains some of the last remaining tropical lowland rainforest in Central America. It harbors birds, trees and plants found nowhere else in the world. Conservationists regard the 1,000-acre Lapa Rios Reserve as a wildlife corridor, a protective buffer for the nearby 100,000-acre Corcovado National Park. Everyone involved, from Lapa Rios employees to its guests and local community, the greater tourism industry and the Costa Rican government, regards Lapa Rios Lodge as a symbol of the Osa Peninsula. The lodge defines effective biodiversity protection. Lapa Rios was purposely designed to be small, to minimally impact the property. No living trees were cut on site dur- ing construction, and buildings were placed only on previ- ously cleared terrain. The 17-villas and bungalow project provides protection for over 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of forest. Lapa Rios is a model that demonstrates responsible ecotourism. It adheres to the following guiding principles: • Utilizes tourism to protect endangered tropical rainforest. • Educates stakeholders about the benefits derived from sustainable practices, demonstrates people combined with land preservation. • Integrates and assists the local community through basic education, job training and economic stability and improvement. Lapa Rios believes in the transformative power of education. Education empowers self respect and personal identity, and is the best tool to preserve a local culture and its natural resources. Educated citizens improve local communities. Over years, people have learned that land preservation can be forever, and, that businesses sustaining the future have the great- est long-term success. Our Osa community has new social services because our guests help us answer local needs. Get involved with us. The lodge offers community job training and economic interaction, dedicates to operate only sustainable hospitality prac- tices and educates the community and guests to the benefits of rainforest preservation. By building an intimate, personal experience that focuses on environmental and intercultural education, guests, employees and the local community have demonstrated that ecotourism does protect and sustain endangered rain forest biodiversity and the people whose lives depend on it. Doing our part of a global effort: Sustainable Tourism and Conservation at Lapa Rios Lapa Rios has long pioneered Sustainable Tourism and Conservation on the Osa Peninsula. From day one, our vision and effort were dedicated to developing a model where the region’s culture, biodiversity, and wildlife could be shared with our guests without negatively impacting their integrity or sustainability. At Lapa Rios, we have spearheaded several important social and environmental programs in the vicinity and support local community empowerment initiatives regularly. As a part of our commitment to sustainable development, we hire directly from the local communities and go beyond the norm by providing valuable training, education, and employment to over 60 direct and 70 indirect employees and their families. We have also purchased 1000 acres of vast parcels of primary and secondary rainforest to be preserved into perpetuity and shared with our guests, researchers, and ecologists. We will continue to make great strides to protect the environment and promote the conservation of Costa Rica’s wild areas, but the challenges we face are tremendous. We ask that everyone who visits the region and Lapa Rios Lodge take part in safeguarding this amazing piece of paradise and help us to do good for the local communities and the planet. To do so, we’ve created a Sustainable Tourism & Conser- vation Fund with revenue generated by a recently implemented Conservation Fee. The small sum of $25 per guest/per stay will be charged upon payment of each reservation. Guests can now feel the satisfaction and pride of contributing to the wellbeing and protection of the Osa Peninsula for the enjoyment and benefit of current and future generations.