Casa Divina and SabinaTour, achieved in 2022 the international certification of sustainable tourism Tour Cert for companies that meet social and environmental criteria, after exhaustive evaluations of their good practices.
Text Lucila Donoso, photography Juan Carlos Donoso
The town of Mindo is situated just two hours from Quito, in the Pichincha province. It is recognized for its adventure sports and unique experiences in the middle of the exuberant Ecuadorian cloud forest of the Chocó Andino declared a Biosphere Reserve in 2018.
In this natural paradise, Casa Divina Eco Lodge and SabinaTour operator are committed to sustainable tourism and travel. A commitment to life in which they have already made concrete progress.
Both companies are the shared dream of Molly Brown and Efrain Toapanta, an American-Ecuadorian couple. Molly was born and raised in San Francisco, and came to Ecuador in the 90s as an Anthropology and Environment student at the University of Oregon. She met Efraín while researching the effects of ecotourism in Mindo, a town she immediately fell in love with for its natural beauty and warm people.
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For his part, Efrain grew up in Mindo itself, on his parents’ farm, and is now an active member of the community and part of the Guides Association. He is recognized as one of the best birdwatching guides in the area and leads the team of experts at SabinaTour.
Molly and Efrain started their company in 2007 and since then they have expressed their objective of conserving the forest, regenerating it and being able to develop tourist activities, environmental education and group management.
They have been part of the transition that Mindo has experienced since the 80s, from a place dedicated to logging and hunting animals, to a place focused on ecotourism and related activities.
For Molly, sustainable tourism is the “only option.” Her interest is to take advantage of her endeavors to convey this message.
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“We are not only talking about how we can live in a better world; it’s also not only about traveling and choosing green hotels. I always like to take it to another level — that our way of traveling reflects our way of life,” Molly explains
As Efrain says, many times people think that sustainable tourism is just a hike in the woods and nothing more, but it is so much more. “It’s going for a profound change, doing real and tangible things. It’s nice to talk about sustainability, about projects, but it’s another thing to make a real change… what I want for my family is how I want my business.”
Casa Divina and SabinaTour, achieved in 2022 the international certification of sustainable tourism Tour Cert, for companies that meet social and environmental criteria, after exhaustive evaluations of their good practices.
This process began in 2016 when Casa Divina integrated a pioneering group of Ecuadorian companies that sought to improve their “green” tourism and travel offer for Latin America. It was later joined by SabinaTour.
Tour Cert “is not an award, it is a commitment,” says Jorge Varea, administrador de Casa Divina. He is and expert on Political Ecology and Sustainable Tourism with two master’s degrees from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
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“Certification implies a responsibility to do things well. We are interested in having this certification because it helps us improve our processes and align ourselves with the idea of what we want to do,” explains Jorge.
Tour Cert supports with information, training, evaluation and control and “that is the most important part, because if you receive an award, you receive it and that’s it, when you are in a process you receive the certification, but then you have monitoring, control and evaluation of your processes, you have to be in continuous improvement.”
Sustainable tourism in Mindo in practice
Casa Divina and SabinaTour have the mission of collaborating with the local community to promote socially and environmentally conscious tourism that generates an economic impact. In that sense, they work with other local businesses, nearby farms, area guides, etc., to generate comprehensive development.
As Jorge Varea assures, “we have a great bond with the community… we are generating an inclusive proposal to work in community and together and that is better, more interesting, and what gives us this aspect of sustainability.”
“We generate a local economy that circulates,” says Efrain, “it is a chain: we buy local products, we link up with other forest and bird watching reserves, we support each other’s initiatives.”
“It means connecting deeply with the community of Mindo and the Northwest,” Molly summarizes, because, as Efrain says: “our job is to continue helping conservation, the community, and the development of everyone. That’s why it’s called sustainable tourism, not just that you’re fine and the rest are fine.»
For the future, she has the idea of creating a recycling center in the area that also generates income for the population from the “large amount of waste” left by tourists. The dreams continue with plans to conduct more research on the diversity of vegetation in the reserves.
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Green indicators of Casa Divina Eco-lodge and Sabina Tour
Nature conservation in Mindo
- Casa Divina Eco Lodge is located in a 4-hectare reserve of recovering cloud forest, where bird diversity is observed. It has two self-guided trails.
- This forest now receives species of mammals such as the “olinguito” (Bassaricyon neblina) that arrives in pairs every night, which is an indicator of the recovery process of the area.
- It also has a reserve of 100 hectares in the buffer zone of the Mindo Nambillo Protective Forest.
- It uses spring water from the reserve itself for its operation. It has a gray and black water treatment system and uses 100% biodegradable cleaning products.
- Their cabins, located in the first reserve, were built by hand by their owners with wood harvested locally and sustainably.
The link with the Mindo community of Casa Divina
– Works with a wide network of community and private protected areas and businesses in the area.
-The company and staff have accounts in the local savings cooperative with the possibility of accessing loans for the purchase of land and construction of housing.
-Direct hiring of transporters, local tour guides and suppliers from nearby farms.
Social Involvement in Mindo
– Financially supports SALEM, an organization that has been working for the most vulnerable people in Mindo and against domestic violence for 20 years.
– It has a team trained and hired with stable, decent, safe work, with all the salaries and benefits of the law.
– 60% of the staff are women and there is a person of this gender in a management position.
– Educational talks and training for local children and young people on conservation and environmental education issues.
Links:
Certification Tour Cert:
https://www.tourcert.org/en/community/casa-divina-lodge/
https://www.tourcert.org/en/community/sabinatour-operator/
Seguimos difundiendo aquello en lo que creemos y por lo que siempre hemos luchado, los derechos del movimiento indígena, de las mujeres o warmis, de los grupos LGTBI, de los trabajadores y los derechos de cuidar a la naturaleza.
Múltiples voces, distintas ideas, pensamientos y miradas.
