CONSELVATUR, Conservacion de la Selva a traves del Turismo, or “Rain Forest Conservation through Tourism”, highly appreciates your interest in and support of Selva Bananito Lodge & Reserve. Your conscious choice in sustained travel and low impact operations, as exemplified by our lodge in Costa Rica, does make a difference! Together we provide a tangible solution to the negative impacts that tourism imposes on destinations.

However, we would like to point out to you, our dear guests, that supporting eco tourism projects is only part of the solution to the problems created by the travel industry.

Did you know that 95% or more of the pollution and CO2 emissions released traveling to environmentally friendly hotels, lodges and spectacular nature reserves around the world is caused by international air travel?

The fact is that one person will produce more than 2 tons of CO2 and other harmful green house gases on a regular return flight from San Francisco to Costa Rica!
For guests coming in from overseas, for example Germany, their return flight, in order to consume an eco friendly vacation, will produce almost 6 tons of CO2 per person, in addition to other green house gases!

We at CONSELVATUR / Selva Bananito Lodge look forward to mitigate with your help the impact of traveling to our renowned and environmentally friendly lodge.

There are two main initiatives to counterbalance the effects of air travel, that is, two ways of reducing or mitigating the emissions created by air planes in the long run. These two options are to be explained in brief and are actions that we can take together in order to support CO2 sequestration. Carbon sequestration is a term used to describe exactly what we have in mind with your support: let us be of help when you offset the emissions you generate when you take part in a vacation intended to be in harmony with nature at our lodge.

The two most important ways to offset “our” emissions are the following:

Reforestations will absorb or capture very high amounts of CO2 during the growth period of the trees in specific reforestation regions.

Alternative sources of energy, such as wind mills, solar ovens, photovoltaic sources of energy, etc, will not release CO2 while operating, and thus, supporting projects that fund renewable sources of energy will sequester or mitigate the emissions caused by “our” air travel.

Here is our proposal to counterbalance most of the pollution generated by travel which is responsible for climatic change when you visit us: help us offset your emissions when flying in a plane in order to stay at Selva Bananito Lodge & Reserve in Costa Rica.

You can do so by visiting one of the following web sites in order to educate yourself more in depth about the problem, in order to calculate your emissions, and in order to buy certified emissions sequestration “shares” which will offset the pollution created by “our” nature & adventure vacation at Selva Bananito: www.atmosfair.de & www.myclimate.org .

We, on the other hand, will do the following to compensate your additional investment in a true eco tourism vacation:

1-we can go 50 / 50 on your CO2
2-we can assume your CO2
3-we will pay your CO2

1) When you stay at the lodge for a minimum of 3 regular nights and show us your proof of payment of your CO2 sequestration certificate, with either one of the above organizations, we will provide you with 50 % of the value (your additional investment) in form of free additional tours at Selva Bananito.

2) When you visit us for a minimum of 3 nights while taking part in our extra adventure package 4 days / 3 nights and show us your proof of payment of your CO2 sequestration certificate, with either one of the above organizations, we will provide you with 100 % of the value (your additional investment) in form of free additional tours at Selva Bananito.

3) When you visit Costa Rica and take part in one of our one or two week itineraries, which include Selva Bananito Lodge & Reserve, we will pay for your CO2 sequestration in full, and you will receive the certificate personally from us at the lodge!

We are thankful for your thoughtful commitment to the environment and look forward in bringing down the pollution caused by your vacation at “our” lodge to almost cero!

Only your choice can help reduce the climatic change caused by air travel. We want to be part of that choice. Let us do the right thing together and offset “our” CO2 emissions hand in hand. Your choice and our commintment will make a difference! Let us redefine eco-tourism together!