Spain is the European country with the greatest biodiversity and with the largest protected area. Our country has very different climates and we have a network of 15 national parks, 52 biosphere reserves, 10 UNESCO geoparks, more than 170 natural parks, and areas of special protection for birds and special conservation of the Natura 2000 Network. With this heritage, the tourism sector emerges as an alternative with a lot of projection to promote repopulation in the most depopulated areas.

Recent studies have painted alarming scenarios about the negative consequences of tourism. A study by the University of Sydney attributes 8% of polluting gas emissions to tourism. Hence the need to bet on viable sustainable development alternatives when traveling and betting on ecotourism.

In this sense, there is a wide niche in which several entrepreneurs from the Emprendeverde Network have launched their projects into reality by offering an alternative to get to know new places focused on rural and natural areas, and respectful of the flora and fauna of the destinations, which help to preserve the resources of the area.

This is the case of A{2h}de, an agency specialized in the creation of a network of alternative tourist destinations, close and unknown, strategically aligned with institutions and companies to co-create, give visibility and position tourist destinations contributing to local economic development. With the same objective of offering alternative destinations, Artemisa was launched to show in a different and special way the natural and cultural riches of a unique environment such as Algeciras, through the Interpretation of Heritage. Caminos del Guadiana are a representation of travel agencies and guides who interpret nature and are very committed to conservation and sustainable development and who are committed to this new way of understanding tourism.

In the rural houses there is also a wide range of possibilities where to develop original parallel activities that bring us closer to the environment and allow the traveler to get to know it in order to respect it, as is the case of Casa Martinete, which has become a meeting point for naturalists and sensitive people who promote a change of course. To this end, in addition to offering accommodation, they offer different experiences around the cultural and natural heritage of the Cadiz town of Trebujena, where the house is located.

Another example is Quei Vitorino, which is based on how ecotourism can be one of the ways of development in an increasingly depopulated rural world. It is an initiative that combines rural accommodation, a workshop-craft shop where the traditional trade of the “cunqueiros” and an ecotourism activity company are maintained.

On another plane moves Maite Asensio with her Snorkeling Experience initiative, A coastal ecotourism project that also focuses on environmental dissemination, bringing science closer to the general public. The products they offer are guided and interpreted snorkeling routes day and night, mainly on Las Canteras beach, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and an informative book about the marine life of this beach.