Condé Nast Traveler includes Palawan resort in 12th annual Green List

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Our top twelve destinations, hotels, and outfitters in the world of ecotourism—one of the best ways to preserve the environments and cultures that make this planet worth exploring. Brook Wilkinson reports

The Green movement has arrived. Want proof? Americans buy organic, locally grown produce. We drive hybrids. We spend $10 to watch not a Hollywood superhero but a politician with a PowerPoint presentation. And travelers are increasingly looking for options that keep the earth and its occupants in mind: More than 75 percent of Condé Nast Traveler readers recently surveyed deemed it important for hotels near impoverished areas to help local people obtain education, clean water, food, and health care.

In this, our twelfth annual tribute to ecotourism, we present a smorgasbord of choices that can make you feel downright virtuous about your next trip. Covering every continent, these hotels, tour operators, and destinations are the best of more than 80 candidates who applied this year. Our panel of judges gave each of the top candidates a score (out of a possible 100) for their environmental initiatives, their contributions to local communities, and the quality of the guest experience. The overall score is an average of the three.

LodgeS/ResortS: El Nido Resorts, Philippines
Environmental Initiatives: 74
Local Contributions: 76
Guest Experience: 63
Overall Score: 71
Sister properties on Miniloc and Lagen islands, these two resorts have taken a leading role in protecting the area’s greatest assets—its coral reef and marine and forest habitats—by helping to secure governmental protection, collaborating on scientific studies, and planning low-impact development and activities. Every staff member, from gardener to dive guide, has taken classes in ecology, geology, and history. Miniloc, which is in a cove bordered by limestone cliffs, attracts families with kayaking in two lagoons and snorkeling among manta rays, clown fish, and dugongs along natural and ceramic reefs (the latter rehabilitate coral damaged by dynamite fishing). Jungle-fringed Lagen has a more serene, laid-back feel and a spa. Both resorts offer mangrove tours, hiking, and private-island picnics (; El Nido Resorts; doubles, $224–$285, all-inclusive).

THE JUDGES
Adam Aron, former chairman and CEO, Vail Resorts
Ralf Buckley, director, International Centre for Ecotourism Research, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
Mark Conroy, president and CEO, Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Louis D’Amore, founder, International Institute for Peace Through Tourism
Martha Honey, executive director, International Ecotourism Society
Sven-Olof Lindblad, founder and president, Lindblad Expeditions
Ron Mader, founder, Planeta.com
Stanley Selegut president, Maho Bay Camps, St. John
Shannon Stowell president, Adventure Travel Trade Association