Santuario, Risaralda, is a municipality that is part of the coffee cultural landscape, located in the eastern slope of the Western Cordillera of Colombia, in the buffer zone of the Tatamá National Natural Park, a region that supplies water to several mountain streams. These two recognitions turn Santuario into a propitious scenario for the development of tourist, recreational and training activities for the community in general.

Taking advantage of this natural scenario, more than a year ago the initiative to conform the tourist service provider Ecoaventura Entre Rios y Montañas was born, linking peasants from La Linda, Cominal, Alto Peñas Blancas, Campamento and Planes de San Rafael, in the coffee zone of the municipality. We take advantage of their knowledge for the attention of visitors and the dissemination of coffee knowledge. Currently, we provide services of tours for the whole family, which include canyoning (rappel or rappelling), mountain biking, coffee route, culture, history, hiking, bird watching and paragliding.

Being part of the Colombian Coffee Cultural Landscape and living at the base of the Tatamá National Natural Park, we have a natural scenery of uncountable scenic beauty and environmental offer (rivers, mountains, hillside coffee, diverse crops). Sustainable tourism, or environmentally friendly, opens a door of economic, social and family hope for our farmers. Without ceasing to be peasants, they have in this productive line of work an alternative that allows them to learn, value and commit themselves to their territory, taking advantage of time and space to improve their income and, with it, their quality of life, that of their family and their community.

In this sense, several tourist activities have already been carried out where the guides, food providers and logistic operation have been farmers from La Linda, Cominal, Peñas Blancas and Planes de San Rafael of Santuario municipality. The farmers of these villages are direct beneficiaries of this project, as well as the managers of this proposal of development and coffee diversification. The visitors that come to the zone are also benefited, and, of course, the fact of improving the economy of some villages also benefits the regional economy.

The benefit is not only reflected in the economic aspect; an added value for these villages and for the municipality as a whole is to have farmers that take ownership of their territory, with healthy life alternatives, valuing and committing themselves to the development of the countryside and its inhabitants. To this end, training is provided in local history, environmental interpretation, regulations and handling of equipment required for the performance of this process.