On the Origin of Species Tourism

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During a trip to Mashpi Lodge in Quito, Ecuador, visitors spend the day at lectures on biology and conservation before checking on visuals recorded by camera traps wired throughout the jungle. Some would consider such tasks drudgery, but tourists eager to contribute to conservation call it a vacation. 

Located in the Ecuadorian rainforest of the Andean Chocó region, Mashpi Lodge is a hotel experience specializing in the developing trend of conservation tourism—offering guests the opportunity to explore the jungle environment with experienced guides and naturalists. It is also one of only a handful of travel accommodations in the world that can lay claim to discovering multiple new species.

According to Marc Bery, Mashpi Lodge hotel manager, telling guests that the hotel’s staff discovered 10 species in 10 years thanks to the support of people like them is an empowering message.

“The forests of the Chocó bioregion are increasingly and hugely threatened by logging and mining,” Bery says. “Conservation efforts and the arguments for the preservation of the forests are without doubt bolstered by new scientific discoveries. The Lodge has kept at least one resident biologist on staff since 2009. The tropical forests of the Andean Chocó region have become an endless cornucopia of species for researchers.”

The most recent Mashpi Lodge find is the Columnea Fluidifolia, part of the Gesneriaceae family (related to the violet). Serendipity played a role in the discovery, as it was a study of hummingbirds that led researchers to the plant.

While it was professionals who collected and identified the 10th new species, guests participating in other activities were able to share in the event.

“Our guests contribute to the scientific programs carried out within the reserve,” Bery explains. “Guests learn by visiting the Science Lab, the Life Center’s Butterfly Garden, and evening lectures given by our biology and research team. Some visitors collect the material recorded by cameras in the forest, arranged on request.”

At Work in the Jungle

Located in Madre de Dios, Peru, Rainforest Expeditions maintains lodge accommodations in the rainforest and arranges discovery tours, inviting travelers to get their hands dirty. According to rainforest specialist Pierina Carranza, lodge staff and guests discovered and named 40 new species over three decades. Many of the most recent discoveries are insects, including moths and butterflies, such as the large Parascepsis Lantingi Grados in 2020 and the colorful Aphyle Niedmandi Grados in 2018, or the wasplike Mnioes Poncei Alvarado.

The venue began its life as the Tambopata Research Center when it hosted the Tambopata Macaw Project.

“It developed amazing techniques  to increase macaw populations in areas where needed,” Carranza says.

Rainforest Expeditions currently offers three programs. The Discover a New Species activity runs with the cooperation of the Natural Museum of History in Lima and Guelph University in Canada. The AmazonCam Tambopata operates with the San Diego Zoo and the United Kingdom’s Suffolk University to record video of rare and reclusive animals. Finally, Aerobotany uses high-rise towers and a guest-piloted drone to explore the rainforest canopy.

Such active work requires guests to arrive for the expeditions prepared for jungle life. “Coming to the rainforest can be challenging, and it’s important to come prepared physically and to arrive supplied,” Carranza explains. “Binoculars, a reusable water bottle, good camera, sun hat, mosquito repellent, a raincoat, and many pairs of socks help guests make the most of their trip.”

In San Jose, Costa Rica, Priscilla Murillo is the sustainability coordinator at Böëna Wilderness Lodge. That property works with the government to conserve natural areas facing the pressure of human population growth, poverty, and lack of environmental education—while trying to coexist with wildlife.

“Lapa Rios sits within a 1,000-acre private nature reserve, and our property acts as a protective barrier for the 100,000-acre, biodiverse Corcovado National Park,” Murillo says. “The founders of Lapa Rios signed a conservation easement with The Nature Conservancy and the Costa Rican land conservation organization Cedarena as a binding agreement that ensures the rainforest conservation of Lapa Rios in perpetuity.”

What Murillo describes as “high-end educated clientele who value service and detail” have the opportunity at Lapa Rios to live alongside rainforest residents while enjoying hands-on education about the animals and endangered habitat of Osa Peninsula (“the most biologically intense place on Earth,” according to National Geographic).

The Activist Tourist

In the case of all three venues, guests arrive with the understanding that discovering a new species is a rarity, so they come for a taste of the work that leads to discovery and preparation. All three representatives of their properties agree that species-centric conservation tourism is part of a larger trend welcoming a new breed of activist tourist.

“We feel that travelers are seeking more in-depth connections with both the place and the people they encounter on their travels,” Mashpi Lodge’s Bery says. “Our lodge is transformative for the guests. They arrive stressed and burned out after Covid and leave revived and more connected with the natural world.”

Carranza of Rainforest Expeditions agreed that these journeys change travelers. “We can all notice in the world that there’s still luxury leisure travel that does not really care about how things are handled at destination,” Carranza adds. “We create awareness that the real luxury nowadays is the experience of preserving the location—not remaining observers, but taking action in conservation.”

Finally, Murillo of Lapa Rios insists her destination is about healing both the environment and their visitors.

“What moved us since our beginnings is our decision to offer a few people the possibility of living transformative experiences in locations that are practically inaccessible,” Murillo says. “We offer not just luxurious spaces to relax, but real-life experiences that heal body and soul and expose people to places and moments that awaken the senses and imbue life with new meaning.” 

This article appears in the December 2022 issue of Penta magazine