ACTION: Establishment of permanent parcels for conservation, currently managing 17,000 hectares (40,800 acres) of Amazon rainforest in the Inkaterra Ecological Reserve.

RESULTS: The capture of 3,300,000 tons of carbon dioxide, maintained through sustainable use of these forests. This figure is a product of the research done by Leeds University (UK) since 1989 (before the Kyoto Protocol). This project is under the ownership of our Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica lodge, across the Madre de Dios River from the Tambopata National Reserve.

ACTION: The restoration of 5 hectares (12 acres) of cloud forest at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel.

RESULTS: After having planting the trees that produce the fruits preferred by the birds native to the area, we managed to register 192 species of birds (18 of which are hummingbirds); also 111 species of butterflies and 372 species of native orchids, as well as ferns, bromeliads, a tea plantation, medicinal plants and organic vegetables. As a result of the success of this restoration our guests can always observe cloud forest wildlife on the hotel grounds.

ACTION: The planting and management of an organic orchard and kitchen garden in Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, where lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, etc. are cultivated. No chemical products such as fertilizers are used; crops are harvested fresh to be used by the hotel kitchen for guests and employees.

RESULTS: The vegetables harvested are used in the hotel for staff and guest consumption, avoiding the generation of carbon in the transport of these products. Rescued native species of vegetables have also been sown in the hotel gardens.

ACTION: The recovery of these tea plants for the purpose of managing plantations abandoned due to the effects of Agrarian Reform, processing tea using local methodologies without equipment or machinery, creating a hands-on experience for travelers, and using tea production as a model for generating income for rural and local populations.

RESULTS: Harvest and consumption of this tea for hotel guests and employees, providing a healthful experience and avoids generating carbon in transportation. Moreover farmers in the area are motivated to recover this tea on their land to improve income by selling their crops.

ACTION: The successful restoration of a 16th century colonial mansion, called Inkaterra la Casona, investing more than 3 million dollars in alterations to the infrastructure (walls, foundations, roof and doors), in addition to decorating this beautiful mansion, which is protected by the Peruvian State, having been declared an Historic National Monument by the National Institute of Culture.

RESULTS: Inkaterra La Casona is considered by Condé Nast Traveler (USA) to be one of the 140 best new hotels in the world in 2009 and by Travel + Leisure (USA) to be among the 45 best new hotels in the world in 2009. Also at the beginning of 2010, Inkaterra La Casona was made a member of the exclusive association of luxury hotels and restaurants Relais & Châteaux of France, as an example of a Peruvian home for visiting tourists.

ACTION: Make the access to this archaeological site a tourist destination, including security measures which would allow visitors to pass through the site 50 yards waterfall and continue their walk along the Inca Trail to the citadel of Machu Picchu. An agreement to this effect has been signed by Inkaterra and the National Institute of Culture of Peru.

RESULTS: Greater options on the Inca Trail route to lessen the present burden on the sole route that supports the traditional Inca Trail, as well as creating a circuit that induces visitors to stay two nights in Machu Picchu Pueblo, creating more employment in the area. Restoration of The Purification Trail to Machu Picchu.

ACTION: The protection of the rocks where the rock paintings are located in the gardens of Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel.

RESULTS: Teaching Inkaterra guests and staff about these ancient relics of the people who lived in this cloud forest.

ACTION: José Koechlin (founder and CEO of Inkaterra) donated the central five hectares (the equivalent of a third of the town) to the present day town of Machu Picchu (referred to as Machu Picchu Pueblo), promoting the design of the urban plan where they built the present station for the train to Machu Picchu, the school, the handicraft market, the medical post, the soccer field, and an area for housing. In addition he managed the construction of the road going from the town to the Ruins Bridge (near the former train station), which leads to the archaeological site of Machu Picchu.

RESULTS: A better street plan for the town of Machu Picchu, land for housing and services free to the people and the establishment of the basic services the whole town needs for the normal development of its inhabitants.

ACTION: Using energy generated by the Machu Picchu hydroelectric power station for our Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel energy needs. This plant produces clean energy by making use of the fast flowing waters of the Vilcanota River, which passes by the hotel.

RESULTS: Lowest amount of carbon released into the environment by using hydroelectrically energy for a hotel with 190 resident employees with the capacity to receive 200 guests.

ACTION: In the Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica lodge gas generators are used to provide 82% of the lodge’s energy. Gas is taken in cylinders by canoe. Also the use of diesel fuel has been reduced to 12%, and of kerosene to 6%.

RESULTS: Low carbon release to the environment by using gas energy for a lodge with 105 employees and the capacity to receive 70 guests.

ACTION: The light bulbs in the hotel have been changed to compact fluorescent bulbs that reduce energy consumption and help save on the cost of consuming electricity. In the Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica lodge kerosene (paraffin) lamps are used to reduce the use of light bulbs during the night. Also the use of plastics, derived from petroleum, has been reduced to a minimum in the hotels to avoid higher generation of carbon. Our policy is to recycle everything that is feasible to recycle.

RESULTS: Less carbon emissions into the environment in Inkaterra hotels.

ACTION: Plastics and waste collection on the nearby river banks near the hotel sites. Talks in communities near the hotels on conservation and water pollution. Studies of water quality and community training have also been carried out with NGO ACEER and with the Stroud company of New York (USA) on Inkaterra’s Hacienda Concepción, located across the Madre de Dios River from the Tambopata National Reserve in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon rainforest.

RESULTS: Less waste in the rivers near the Inkaterra hotels, creating awareness of the importance of water in the communities near the hotels and the certainty of using potable water on Inkaterra properties.

ACTION: Days of reforestation at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel and at Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica. Talks at local schools and colleges on pollution and forest conservation. Hotel guests participate in these activities.

RESULTS: Strengthening awareness among the villagers near Inkaterra hotels of the importance of forests, taking better care of the biodiversity and the trees in protected natural areas.

ACTION: A day of collecting seeds and planting them. Coordinating an hour without electric lights on Inkaterra properties, such as the boutique hotel Inkaterra La Casona in Cusco where the lights are disconnected for an hour at ‘Happy Hour’. Finally in the Lima offices, a gift of seeds is made to collaborators to encourage reforestation and family care of plants, as well as the gift of a cactus plant from our own nurseries for each area of the company.

RESULTS: Creation of awareness to reduce production of carbon, as well as educating Inkaterra employees (in management of plastics, paper, organic matter, etc.) and nearby communities about taking care of the environment.

ACTION: Day of seed collection and reforestation with the hotel guests themselves. Also cleaning up rivers and gardens near Inkaterra hotels.

RESULTS: The education and awareness of Inkaterra guests and employees and nearby communities regarding taking care of the environment and responsible tourism.

ACTION: Since 2006 Inkaterra holds the ‘Inkaterra Big Birding Day’ contest, which consists of reporting sighting or hearing of the largest number of birds around the area of an Inkaterra locale or operation relative to the total list of birds registered. For the organization of this competition each locale presents a team composed of environmental interpreters, Inkaterra staff and guests such as the hotel guests themselves. At the same time the route to follow and the total list of birds considered, which has been reviewed by the organization and an outside consultant, an expert on the birds of Peru.

RESULTS: Creation of awareness among Inkaterra employees about taking care of these birds, in Peru numbering approximately 1,830 species, being the country where the most species of birds can be seen in the world. Also the investigation and identification of the birds that can be observed at Inkaterra hotels, in order to improve information on excursions for guests on these colorful creatures, since there is a large bird watching market worldwide.

• Sewage goes to a septic tank created at the Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica lodge. At the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, sewage goes to a septic tank leading into the public sewer system.
• We have compost treatment at the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel and at Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica. Fruit and vegetable peels are mixed to use as fertilizer on crops grown in the gardens of both hotels;
• Every year clean-up campaigns are carried out in Inkaterra hotels and the areas surrounding them, which include the guests and company employees who help clean up not only the vicinity of the hotels but also in the destinations of the excursions, for the purpose of keeping the forest clean, avoiding contamination from plastics and inorganic objects in these natural areas of biodiversity.
• Inkaterra workshops on taking care of the environment and biodiversity of the Historic Sanctuary are held every year in January for the children from Machu Picchu Pueblo. Another annual event is cloud forest restoration on the hotel grounds.
• Advertising, marketing and hygienic materials are made from recycled, pollution free materials with Inkaterra’s own brand.

ACTION: The complete restoration of a 16th century colonial mansion called Inkaterra la Casona, investing more than 3 million dollars in alterations to the infrastructure (walls, foundations, roof and doors), in addition to decorating this beautiful mansion, one of the first to be built when the Spanish conquerors took possession of the city of Cusco.

RESULTS: Inkaterra La Casona is considered by Condé Nast Traveler (USA) to be one of the 140 best new hotels in the world in 2009 and by Travel + Leisure (USA) to be among the 45 best new hotels in the world in 2009. Also at the beginning of 2010, Inkaterra La Casona was made a member of the exclusive association of luxury hotels and restaurants Relais & Châteaux of France.

ACTION: Research since 1978 on the biodiversity in the tropical Amazon rainforest in southeastern Peru, and since 1982, on the cloud forest of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu.

RESULTS: The publication of the books: Cusco Amazónico: The Lives of Amphibians and Reptiles in an Amazonian Rainforest (published by Cornell University Press, 2005, with the support of Inkaterra in the production field in the Inkaterra Ecological Reserve, which took 14 years to study); Flórula de la Reserva Ecológica Inkaterra (published by the Missouri Botanical Garden and Inkaterra Asociación, 2006) which took 15 years of field studies in the Inkaterra Ecological Reserve; and Orchids at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel (Published by Inkaterra, 2007) which took 20 years of research in the hotel’s cloud forest.

ACTION: The field work of the scientists financed by Inkaterra in order to objectively find out about the great biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest in the Inkaterra Ecological Rainforest and the cloud forest Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu and the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel.

RESULTS: Spreading the information by creating and printing thousands of sheets for identifying the birds, orchids and butterflies of Machu Picchu and the tropical Amazon rainforest of the Inkaterra Ecological Reserve. Also diffusion of the check lists of species for bird watching at Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica and Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. Six years of research for the creation of the interactive DVD of birds of the Amazon and the cloud forest; and the educational compact discs of bird songs recorded over 4 years in gardens of Inkaterra hotels.

ACTION: The achievement of two CDs of Peruvian music: ‘Café Inkaterra’ and ‘Serenata Inkaterra’, which unite traditional Peruvian music with modern trends. The production and investment in Peruvian recording artists who have known how to capture the musical fusion of Peruvian cultures and customs.

RESULTS: The creation of the ‘Andean chill out’ musical current. The successful distribution and sales of two CDs of Peruvian music: ‘Café Inkaterra’, winner of the golden record in 2005 for being the biggest seller in Peru; and the CD ‘Serenata Inkaterra’, which was nominated for a Latin American Grammy in 2007.