Ecotourism and sustainable travel have been embraced by countries throughout Latin America to protect their vast and diverse range of natural habitats and beautiful landscapes. As adventure travel to remote wildlands of Central and South America has flourished it has become an important source of support for economic development in rural communities including indigenous people living in and around national parks and protected areas.

The TCT supports many local conservation organizations and wildlife protection initiatives throughout Central and South America including Costa Rica, the Amazon, Galapagos and Patagonia, among many other regions. This includes funding scientific research to protect critically endangered species such as the Andean spotted bear in Peru, jaguar in Costa Rica and Belize, macaws and giant river otters in the Amazon, and puma in the wildlands of Patagonia. We have also funded protection of critical wildlife habitat and have been integrally involved with local organizations to restore the environment and improve tourism management in fragile habitats and UNESCO cultural heritage sites threatened by over-tourism, local population growth and resource extraction. These initiatives include clean-up and management of the Inca Trail in the Machu Picchu Sanctuary of Peru, funding critical projects in the Galapagos Islands to protect the fragile marine and terrestrial habitat from illegal fishing, invasive species, urban development and better tourism management. We have provided a consistent source of funding for conservation work of Costa Rica’s Neotropical Foundation, the Belize Audubon Society, and ANCON of Panama to protect rainforests on the Central American isthmus.

Social works projects throughout Latin America funded by TCT and managed by volunteer participants include:

• Building a community center with library, computer lab and meeting rooms powered by electricity where young Quechua students could study after school in Andean communities where there was no electricity at home.
  
  
• Installation of a sewage sanitation system in a small village in the Amazon of Brazil to improve the health of the community.
  
  
• Working in impoverished communities on the outskirts of San Jose to dispense glasses for improving vision among people who could otherwise not afford it.

Organizations we support in Latin America