Raíces reaches its third edition, after having supported 28 initiatives in previous calls for proposals.
- The non-reimbursable funds will be directed to enterprises in the indigenous territories of Boruca, Cabagra, China Kichá, Rey Curré, Salitre, Térraba and Ujarrás in Costa Rica.
- There are currently more than 1800 hectares of forests impacted with sustainable management by the Program's ventures.
Indigenous communities are the protagonists of the Raíces Program, which this year reaches its third edition, with the objective of supporting tourism ventures and business models that promote nature conservation. In the two previous editions of the program, a total of 28 ventures have participated and nearly 270 applications have been received.
Raíces is a response to the priorities defined by indigenous peoples in the National Biodiversity Strategy. It is currently being implemented under the leadership of the National Council for Biodiversity Management (CONAGEBIO) of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), National Indigenous Board of Costa Rica (MNICR) and the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is also supported by the Development Banking System (SBD), its operating agency Impact Hub, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), the National Institute of Apprenticeship (INA) and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS).
The program consists of two stages: Incubation, where the ventures focused on defining their business model and beginning to prepare their tourism products or services as part of the value offer of each venture; and prototyping, where all the work and learning from stage one was applied, together with the non-reimbursable funds that each venture acquired as part of the seed capital granted by the Development Banking System (SBD).
There are currently 1891 hectares of forest impacted with sustainable management by the program's enterprises. Raíces has also created conditions that promote the strengthening of the economic autonomy of all people, especially women, who are key to the conservation of natural resources and cultural identity.