Thirty years ago, the Ese Eja Native Community of Infierno and Rainforest Expeditions decided to attempt something that seemed extraordinary at the time: to demonstrate that a private company and an indigenous community could work together to make ecotourism a tool for development while, at the same time, preserving the forest.
Today, that story is receiving renewed international recognition.
Rainforest Expeditions has been recognized at the PURE Awards 2026, in the Community: The Harmonizer category, for its 30 years of successful co-management with the Ese Eja de Infierno Indigenous Community, a model that has found its greatest success at Posada Amazonas—a unique initiative between an indigenous community and a private company to generate added value and protect the forest through ecotourism.
This recognition also comes at a particularly symbolic moment: three decades after this story began, the Ese Eja Native Community of Infierno and Rainforest Expeditions are preparing to jointly open Kuaii Amazonas, their second collaborative ecolodge in Tambopata, continuing a network of ecolodges dedicated to protecting the forest through ecotourism.
PURE Awards: Recognizing Those Who Are Transforming Tourism
The PURE Awards are part of PURE Life Experiences, one of the most prominent international events in luxury tourism. The awards recognize projects that expand the possibilities of travel and transform tourism into a positive force for the people and places we visit.
Community: The Harmoniser recognizes initiatives that strengthen communities through collaborations built on respect for their authenticity and, above all, by placing their leaders at the center of decisions about where support is directed and what it can achieve.
Receiving the 2026 PURE Award in the Community category means much more than simply adding another award to our list.
Celebrate thirty years of conversations, learning, shared decisions, challenges, trust, and growth.
But above all, it acknowledges an idea that remains deeply relevant today: ecotourism can become a real tool for community development and the conservation of their forests when the people who belong to the territory play a central role in its future and find value in keeping ecosystems alive.
Posada Amazonas proved that it was possible; Kuaii Amazonas shows that there is still much to be done.