RFE

PORTFOLIO BY SECTOR

Rainforest Expeditions, S.A.C.

www.perunature.com

Rainforest Expeditions (RFE) is a model ecotourism project that offers comfortable, low-impact lodging in the Peruvian Amazon. The company incorporates local sustainable development and environmental education and research into its rainforest experience, including the protection of macaw nurseries and harpy eagle nests.

RFE has a unique relationship with the Ese’eja community of Infierno. Ese’eja owns one of RFE’s two lodges and receives 60 percent of the profits from the lodge, generating almost US$250,000 for this indigenous community since 1998. The community receives additional benefits from its partnership with RFE, including employment, training, and sale of goods.

The lodges are located in the buffer zone of the Tambopata-Candamo Reserve Zone, part of a biological corridor that is one of Conservation International’s hotspots. The area is home to the endangered giant river otter, as well as vulnerable species, such as the anteater, giant armadillo, black spider monkey, jaguar, pink river dolphin, yellow-headed river turtle, and anaconda. The area also features a significant diversity of plant life. Tourism has increasingly become an important economic livelihood for the local peoples, mitigating the threats from illegal logging, hunting, and slash and burn agriculture.

RFE was a winner in the World Resources Institute’s New Ventures Business Plan Competition in October 2001. In 2003, the company was selected by Outside Magazine as one of the World’s Best Ecolodges, and has received similar accolades in prior years. The Nature Conservancy honored the Ese'eja community in 2002 as one of the Equator Prize finalists for outstanding achievement in sustainable development.

EcoEnterprises Fund co-financed this investment with the project principals, Conservation International, and EcoLogic Finance.

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