Nature at Punta Leona - Wildlife Reserve | Nature Walks | Bird Checklist | Environmental Protection | Enviromental Efforts

FACT SHEET

Opening
1975

Address
600 meters west of Abuja’s Bridge, Quebrada Ganado, Garabito, Puntarenas.

Board
Eugenio Gordienko Orlich, President
Luis Fernando Salas Lobo,Vice president
Miguel Fernández Tercero, General Manager
Boris Gordienko Echeverría, General sub-manager
Warren Meza Valverde, Resident Manager Hotel Punta Leona
Reinier Obando Enriquez, Manager Club Punta Leona
Sara Jiménez Fuentes, Sales Manager
Álvaro Sequeira Calvo, Financial Manager

Number of Rooms
108 standard
52 equipped apartments

Work Team
Club Punta Leona :  85 employees
Hotel Punta Leona : 250 employees

Sales Office
150 meters west and 50 north of the Pozuelo Company in La Uruca, San José

Acknowledgements
-Bandera Azul Ecológica  (Ecological Blue Flag) for the surrounding beaches of the complex: Limoncito, Mantas and Blanca Beaches and also for the community of Punta Leona.
-Certificate for sustainable tourism (CST)

Mission
To be a leader in ecotourism and residential area; to continually improve the service and infrastructure where all people involved share common values, goals, and politics; to maintain the best conditions for our shareholders, visitors and collaborators

Vision
We are an ecological community that employees a highly qualified team to fulfill the needs of entertainment and rest in a family ambiance.

Values

Loyalty
To give the organization its best for its goals and objectives in mutual benefit.

Motivation
To acknowledge initiative and work that is above average

Communication
It is the form either written, oral, or  by gestures. A good communication breeds understanding and avoids errors.

Tolerance
Tolerance leads to harmony to be better each day.

Sincerity
It is to act with truth, honesty, and frankness.

Humility
It is to recognize that all people have defects and virtues. If there is humility, there will be respect, communication, and loyalty.
 
Respect
It is to accept people like they are along the lines established by the company and when they don’t affect our values.

Press Releases

1. Blanca Beach in Punta Leona is the first and only beach in the country to receive the category 4 stars in the program “Bandera Azul Ecológica”.
2. Punta Leona continues its efforts to protect the Red Macaw whose habitat is the Central Pacific.
3. Punta Leona awards the winning children of a painting competition organized by the MEP (Ministry of Education) and Punta Leona.

Social and Environmental Responsibility

The complex Punta Leona has adopted in its culture and business the constant support to improve neighboring communities. We are always searching for ways to favor society and the environment.

For more than 10 years, we maintain a support system to the communities; we work towards improving the quality of life, we encourage environmental education and educational improvement for the boys and girls of the zone. We work towards the protection of the environment and the care of the flora and fauna.

Bandera Azul Ecológica

What is it?
It is and initiative for local organizational committees, communities, and educational centers along the beach coasts to foment development together with the protection of natural resources, to search for better sanitary hygiene, and to improve Costa Rican public health.

Who awards it?

Government institutions related to environmental health or tourist developments:
Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA), Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT), Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE), Ministerio de Salud, Ministerio de Educación Pública (MEP), and Cámara Nacional de Turismo (CANATUR).

What do coastal communities evaluate?

1. Quality of the sea water
2. Quality of water for consumer use
3. Management of waste
4. Management of litter
5. Treatment of waste
6. Environmental education
7. Security and administration

What do the non-coastal communities evaluate?

1. Quality of water for consumer use
2. Solid waste disposal
3. Management of sewage
4. Road and tourist signs
5. Environmental education
6. Attention to human health
7. Management of industrial waste
8. Protection of water sources

Bandera Azul Ecológica Program in Punta Leona: A way of life

For more than 8 years we have offered our visitors a vacational area in harmony with nature, surrounded   by clear and safe beaches. Punta Leona’s staff consists of a security committee for the beaches Blanca, Mantas, and Limoncito to reinforce the Bandera Azul program. This award signifies not only a way of life but also a responsibility to environment and a constant search for improvement.

The time and effort spent on health, nature, environmental education, and a quality of life has generated a change of attitude within Punta Leona. A series of environmental programs have created an awareness for improvement in daily activities, work, and free time pleasures among the committee members (beach members and community members).

Thanks to Bandera Azul Ecológica we have begun to take action towards improvement in operations within our installations. This program has motivated technological innovations and a redesign of our internal procedures with positive results within and outside our community.

Presently Punta Leona and its beaches Limoncito, Mantas, and Blanca have the exclusive honor of 4 stars in Costa Rica.

Our work in beaches

1. To protect and supply quality drinking water
2. To prevent and eliminate inorganic waste
3. To control and promote the treatment of industrial and domestic waste from being dumped into the ocean
4. To promote and educate environmentally by means of conferences, cleanup campaigns, and reforestation in communities and schools
5. To upkeep signs along the beaches for the orientation of the visitors
6. To improve vigilance and life-guarding to protect visitors and residents

Our work in the communities

1. To administrate and protect natural resources promoting basic health and environmental programs
2. To police adequate removal of liquid and solid waste of the community
3. To upkeep signs along the beaches for tourist orientation
4. To protect natural resources and water
5. To promote police security
6. To develop environmental programs to generate environmental consciousness in visitors and residents

Bandera Azul Ecológico Activities 2005

Tarcoles, Azul and Agujas Beaches Cleanup

A group of 400, private institutions,  municipality groups, and schools participated in the cleanup of Tarcoles, Azul, and Agujas Beaches. The objective was to diminish the waste created by the river Tarcoles, one of the most contaminated in the country.

Reforestation Program

As a part of our environmental program we organized a campaign to reforest beaches and rivers neighboring our community. Students from nearby schools planted 500 trees native to the area. Part of the trees used were from Punta Leona’s nursery.

Dengue campaign

The Central Pacific was one of the most affected by dengue. We began a campaign for cleanup and fumigation supported by the Health Ministry and the municipality of Garabito. For 6 months neighboring communities were visited by Punta Leona personnel in order to educate the population in its responsibility to eliminate the mosquito.

Paint Contest

With the support of the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) we held a paint contest “Preservation of the beauty of our beaches and communities for a better future” with students from 4th, 5th and 6th grades of the Garabito area. The objective was to promote the commitment we have with our environment and to teach boys and girls of the region about the protection and conservation of nature. The distinguished Costa Rican painter, Don Isidro Con Wong was among our jury participants.

Environmental Education Fund

It is part of environmental education whose objective is to maintain an economic support for causes that are pro environment and health for all; we participated in the edition of the book, “Sanitary Education and Health”. With the money collected other books will be funded for health and environment. Some of the books were donated to neighboring schools of the region to form a part of libraries in educational centers for consultation.

Children’s Party Playa Azul

The boys and girls form a fundamental part of our program for development.

Red Macaw Nest Care

More than 10 years ago we initiated a study of the Red Macaw together with Christopher Vaughn, a biologist from La Universidad Nacional (UNA). Systematic counts were made to collect data in order to understand the development of these birds. It was discovered that their nests were not in optimal conditions so artificial nests were supplied to counteract the negative consequences. Every year students and biologists from the United States (thanks to an exchange program created by UNA) visit Punta Leona to work on the project, which includes observation of nests and bird count.

Because of this, our community spends more than 1,000 hours taking care of the nests to stop poachers. Once nests are located a person is assigned to watch the nests 24 hours daily, particularly those nests that are more exposed, until the babies are able to fly.

Support to Neighboring Schools

We know that the educational development in a child will positively or negatively influence his outlook on life. Therefore, centers such as Quebrada Ganado and Playa Azul have been supported to improve their installations. In the case of Quebrada Ganado we have painted classrooms and hallways, totally remodeled bathrooms, installed computer labs, among others. Playa Azul received a refrigerator, a stove, kitchen utensils, and a freezer for the student lunchroom.

Certificate for Sustainable Tourism

What is it?
 
It is a stamp for environmental quality that accredits tourist companies that integrate environmental factors in their operations: management of natural resources, management of sewage, water management for consumers, ecological promotion and preservation among others.
CST is a program that certifies companies that protect environment in a tourist activity under the concept Responsible Tourism.

What does it evaluate?

Physical – biological:  The interaction between the company and environment with special emphasis on waste treatment and the protection of flora and fauna among others.

Service Plant: Aspects related to the systems and internal processes of the company as to its management of waste and its use of technology to economize its use of water and electricity.

External clients: Management’s actions to invite clients to participate in the implementation of environmental programs of the company.

Social- economic: The identification and interaction of the company with its neighboring communities, analyzing for example, the degree in which hotels respond to growth and development of the region through jobs or other benefits.

Who gives this award?

Government and non government institutions related to the protection of the environment, health or tourism: Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT), la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR), Cámara Nacional de Turismo (CANATUR), Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio), Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE), Instituto Centroamericano de Administración de Empresas (INCAE), Consejo de la Tierra, la Unión Mundial para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN)

CST in Hotel Punta Leona guarantees:

1. We avoid pollution
2. We take action in conservation 
3. We manage the waste we produce
4. We consume biodegradable products and we recycle
5. We have a program to economize electricity
6. We encourage our visitors to know and protect our natural resources
7. We follow the norms set for the protection of the environment, flora y fauna, archeological patrimony, and social security.
8. We employ and train our community members
9. We promote the traditions and customs of the country through typical food and local crafts.

For more information on CST visit www.sustainable-tourism.co.cr