Our staff:

– Most Pacuare Lodge staff belongs to the closer communities like Nairi Awari Indigenous Reserve, Bajos del Tigre, Linda Vista, Santa Marta and other nearby communities between Turrialba Town and Siquirres. Pacuare Lodge provides direct or indirect employment to these communities that before lacked any source of formal employment. Their main income used to come from subsistence coriander cultivation and cattle raising.

– Through our Böëna Wilderness sister lodges we have a cross training program to improve and share knowledge from property to property, as we believe in empowering our staff and providing growth opportunities.

Community Outreach:

Sustainable tourism should improve the lives of local people, and we’ve made donations and initiated projects in the communities nearest to the Pacuare Lodge.

• Pacuare Lodge believes responsible tourism should benefit and respect local communities and it consistently works toward this goal. The Lodge is in a remote area which as a result has been poorly maintained over time by local governments mainly due to its inaccessibility by conventional means. Its Community Support Program works to enhance the living standards of people along the Pacuare River and near the lodge by improving the infrastructure in this area. Pacuare Lodge supports the Preventive Emergency System in Bajos del Tigre School.
• Pacuare Lodge supports local schools and provides funds to support environmental education, sports and other social programs in the area. It has restored the cable car service which local residents use to cross the river, and also through the years has helped keep the road accessible to use. Read more about the donation for potable water to the Nairi Awari Indigenous reserve https://boena.com/blog-pacuarelodge-contribution-indigenous-reserve.html
• Since 2023, we support Yamá Soccer School with training basic supplies for over 80 teenagers near the Pacuare River area.

Children education:

– In addition to teaching our guests about the ecology of the surrounding rainforest, the Pacuare Lodge has launched an environmental education program for schools in nearby communities. Our goal is to raise awareness among local elementary school students of the importance of protecting their environment, and to promote the adoption of good practices that will help them have a more balanced relationship with nature, to live in an ever-healthier environment, and preserve natural resources for future generations. Teams of river guides and Pacuare Lodge staff were trained to give presentations at local schools. Read more https://boena.com/blog-environmental-education.html

The presentations emphasize sustainability, in a practical, simple way, and urge the kids to adopt good habits, emphasizing 4C’s: CULTURE, CONSERVATION, COMMUNITY, and COMMERCE. Among the principal issues we want the children to understand are:

• The importance of water in their environment and the need to protect water sources.
• The importance of energy for human beings and the tools and techniques for conserving it.
• Basic concepts about the local flora and fauna and the principals of their protection.
• The basic principles of managing waste in our communities.
• Biodiversity conservation.

Also in education, the lodge serves as classroom for training and basic courses of guiding, English lessons, and food handling, among other subjects, for the Cabecar Indigenous population from nearby reserves.

– We are founders of the Subcorredor Biológico Barbilla-Destierro, better known as “Paso del Jaguar”. This group studies and supports different projects and initiatives for conservation, sustainable production, and ecotourism, among other actions.

Turrialba Foundation:

– We are founders of Turrialba Foundation, a non-profit organization founded and based in sustainable tourism experiences through Boena Wilderness Lodges and the projects and operations, building options to improve quality living and a sustainable development with our projects and actions.

Fundación Turrialba first name was Turrialba Sostenible and was embraced by the local commerce and services chamber of Turrialba Town. Since the beginning the project was presented to the local government council, and as a result was declared of local interest and then registered as foundation.

– The Pacuare Lodge was built with minimal impact on the surrounding forest and river. No trees were cut to accommodate the suites and main lodge; our buildings use lumber from a reforestation project run by small farmers. The lodge story involves effort and a unique vision from the owners. Since 1995, we have gone through constant evolution, carrying since the beginning the Böëna Wilderness Pillars.

– Suites, spa, and main buildings design include natural ventilation and illumination.

– Pacuare Lodge was the first adventure travel company to acquire parcels of primary forest in this area solely for the purpose of conservation. Over the years, we’ve purchased 340 hectares (840 acres) of primary rainforest along the Pacuare River both to protect the local ecosystem and to offset the atmospheric carbon created by our vehicles. Some of that forest was in danger of being cleared before we purchased it but is now strictly protected to conserve the flora and fauna that lives there. Because our goal is preservation of this untouched virgin rainforest, no visitors are allowed into this area.

Energy:

– Our electricity comes from clean energy generated by 3 hydroelectrical turbines and 204 solar panels. The energy produced through these high-tech systems if stored in batteries for its responsible use. We have implemented an educational process to include guests’ participation in water and electricity efficient use, as well as staff and operative actions.

– We also implemented a management plan for water and electricity usage, involving guests and staff. This includes a constant invest in technology, data analysis, and reaching for usage reduction.

– We use electric cars (golf carts) our property to transfer our guests and supplies. These are charged at the lodge with clean energy produced in-house.

Water:

– Water for suites is solar heated with a high-tech solar panel system installed in each suite or villa.

– All the lodge’s wastewater flows into state-of-the-art septic systems to avoid pollution of the nearby river.

– The lodge’s bathrooms are equipped with biodegradable shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel. All laundry is made with biodegradable soap, and washers and dryers devices allow an efficient use of the electricity produced in-property.

• We hold periodic cleanups and Böëna-supported EM Spheres activities at the creek bordering our property. The EM Spheres are a benevolent new solution to treat contamination and waste in the nation's waterways that include beneficial microorganisms such as fungi, yeast, and bacteria—with clay soil, rice semolina, and molasses, forming the mixture into fist-sized spheres and allowing it to ferment for 22 days. The results are biologically “activated” balls that, when introduced to bodies of water, begin reproducing and breaking down organic contaminants and improving water quality. By participating, students and even Böëna guests can be part of the positive change. By installing special water meters, we can measure our consumption and implement preventative actions for improved water management and the responsible use of resources, such as installing high-tech toilets for more efficient water use. Read more https://boena.com/blog-spheres.html

Wastes:

– Pacuare Lodge operates a waste management program that includes all operative departments and guests, including separating inorganic wastes and organic material. Most organic waste is processed in a compost process, and solid wastes are responsibly managed in the Siquirres local recycling center.

– We recommend avoiding single use plastic bottles in Pacuare Lodge and we ask our guests to use reusable instead.

Wildlife:

Since 2009, Pacuare Lodge has supported the Jaguar Program; we signed an agreement with National University and in addition to providing the researchers with food and lodging, we support cameras and equipment needed for their expeditions including tent camps, batteries for the cameras, and support with local guides.

This collaboration is a result of his growing concern about conservation and the environment, and the need to contribute to the preservation of its ecosystems. Read  more https://boena.com/blog-united-for-the-jaguar.html

The largest feline in the Americas, the jaguar was once common from the southwest United States to northern Argentina, but it has been eliminated from more than half of its original range during the past century. Those spotted cats continue to be threatened by hunters and ranchers in Costa Rica, where they are increasingly restricted to isolated protected areas that are too small to sustain their species. The jaguar project complements our comprehensive sustainable tourism policy, which includes efforts to decrease the lodge’s environmental footprint, benefit communities near the Pacuare River, and contribute to conservation. Those efforts range from recycling programs at all the company’s facilities to planting trees on former pastureland near the river and using wood from reforestation projects in construction of the Pacuare Lodge.

In recent years, the availability of affordable camera traps with movement sensors has revolutionized wildlife research. National University scientist placed camera traps along game trails in the Pacuare Lodge’s 340-hectare (840-acre) private rainforest reserve, the adjacent Nairí Awari Indigenous Reserve and remote Barbilla National Park. Over the years, she has captured approximately 5,000 photos and videos of mammals there with over 163 cameras donated by March 24. Through the equipment and research over the years, the program has documented that the rainforest surrounding the Pacuare Lodge is home to at least 18 species of large mammal, including five of the six felines native to Costa Rica and other rare species such as Baird’s tapir, the red brocket deer and naked-tailed armadillo. Carolina has used the photos and videos to identify five individual jaguars, since the rosettes – patterns of spots – of any given jaguar are as unique as a fingerprint. These include a rare black jaguar (a.k.a. black panther) a mutation that had only been documented in one other region of Costa Rica.