Good news is spreading for Costa Rica’s rivers and watersheds. With the introduction of a benevolent new solution to treat contamination and waste in the nation's waterways, the tourism industry, students, and even visitors can now be part of the positive change.

In early August 2023, Böëna joined the initiative called the Spheres Project, which began as a collaboration between conservation groups, including the National Alliance of Rivers and Watersheds of Costa Rica, OCA (Observatorios Ciudadanos del Agua), groups of students, and some friendly microorganisms.

The Sphere’s Project utilizes a Japanese-developed technique of mixing EMs— which are safe, natural, and beneficial microorganisms, such as fungi, yeast, and bacteria—with clay soil, rice semolina, and molasses, forming the mixture into fist-sized spheres and allowing it to ferment for 22 days. The results are biologically “activated” balls that, when introduced to bodies of water, begin reproducing and breaking down organic contaminants and improving water quality.

“The time has come to take action to save these bodies of water that are life,” said Roberto de la Ossa, Director of the National Alliance of Rivers and Watersheds of Costa Rica, during a CNN Call to Earth Series featuring how Costa Rican communities face environmental challenges such as contaminated rivers.




In classic Böëna fashion, the company fully supported the EM Spheres Project and has implemented similar measures across each of its five wilderness lodges. Pacuare Lodge, whose Sustainability Coordinator Blanca Aguilar Mondragón and several guides received intensive training in the process, is already engaging guests in making EM spheres and participating in their “liberation” into the lodge’s namesake, Pacuare River. Monteverde Lodge and Tortuga Lodge are following suit, engaging guests and community members in applying the spheres project to the Quebrada Sucia watershed and Tortuguero Canal, respectively.



Guests at Böëna’s wilderness lodges are welcome to participate in the EM Sphere Project during their visit. Check with the lodge’s concierge for scheduled times and availability.