Community

Summer Camps: every year Summer Camps are offered for children between the ages of 6 and 12 years old; the aim of these camps is to instruct children in recyclable techniques, promote all adventure experiences offered by the area, and visit other tourism promoters of the area. Also we arranged visit to local produces of cheeses and jams to help them promote their products and give them and extra income (entrances fees). Our guides all from the village have been trained by us for these camps.

English classes: This year during the summer our interns will offer free English lessons to local guides. Recycling plant: our plan generates work; it also trains employees in recycling and reuse techniques and allows them develop their own ideas to enhance our program.

Conservation

Some of our project and programs are listed below:

Rainforest Alliance

We have been working with Rainforest Alliance for more than two years in their Good Management Practices program. They help use catalogue all our process and check lists. We continue to work with them in this program and we help each other with ideas and sharing information.

ASEC (Asociación Ecuatoriana de Ecoturismo)

We have been working with ASEC two years, they audited Rainforest Alliance’s Good Management Practices and we received a total of 91.53%. We will continue to work with them in this project.

Bird Banding

Starting from this year we opened the Bird Banding Project at Septimo Paraiso. Mark Blazis and Pablo Leon, PhD (owner of Septimo Paraiso) the leaders of this project, arranged for several experienced bird-banders volunteers from Massachusetts to come to Septimo Paraiso for a week to help band and catalogue local bird species. We also open this experience to four local birding guides and one trainee. It prove to be a success and the project will continue next year.

Reforestation program

Giant Daisy are planted within the pastor sections. They have a fast rate of growth. This allows them to give ample shade and hence kill and limit the growth of the old pastures. After two of three years of this process the land is ready to be regenerated with local flora.

Middle School Intern Program

This intern program started in 2005. Two or thirst outstanding student are chosen form these schools. They spend an average of 8 weeks at Septimo Paraiso. Amount their responsibilities they have the hummingbird count study program, recycling program including paper production and pencil dolls, English lectures and signaling project. This year another project is added, the botanical garden specimen collection and documentation project.

Less packaging program

The logistics department is in charge all food purchasing. They have a program of reducing packaging and plastic. When all food is purchased recycled boxes are reused to transport it to the lodge and minimize the amount of bag use. Once it arrives to the lodge all boxes are taken to the recycling plant and the bags are reused within the lodge and workshops. The program extends to all purchased required by the lodge and offices.

Promotion of recycled materials

We implemented a program to use only recycled office paper and toilet paper. We emphasis on the need of reusing all plastic containers and we offer plastic reusable water bottles for guests; this enable us to minimize the consumption of plastic bottles. Several areas of recycling bins have been set up at the lodge. All remains and waste office paper is saved to later be sent to the recycling paper section of the lodge. We also collect waster paper from other office in Quito for the same purpose.

Office intern program

Each year our office in Quito gives the opportunity to students to learn and practice. This program allows one or two candidates to incur in the business of tourism and conservation issues. They also take the position of assistants to our senior staff in the areas of logistics, project creation and accounting.

Employees: