Barracuda Hotel & Villas small luxury hotels

Environmental, social, and corporate governance

The power of the hotel industry
in transforming the world

Treating both the natural environment and the people who inhabit it in a truly sustainable manner, employing conscious management practices, is in the Barracuda Group's DNA.

Terms like ESG, which stands for “environmental, social and governance” in EN, had been mostly ignored by the Brazilian corporate world when Barracuda made it a priority to work with hospitality that had a minimal impact on nature and the community where it's located.

Today, the group's proposition is to promote transformation and raise consciousness by organizing authentic, integrative experiences for guests.

The Barracuda Group adopts ecological practices in everything from the architecture and construction down to the services that provide comfort without wastefulness, working continuously so that its guests' experiences are unparalleled - and in absolute harmony with the people, the true owners and guardians of Itacaré.

Guardians of the Climate


Turismo CO2 Legal Guardians of the Climate is a socio-environmental initiative created in 2009 by the NGO Movimento Mecenas da Vida to transform tourism into a means of tackling climate change and ensuring the sustainability of touristic destinations.

Winner of the Awards: 1) Sustainable Tourism Innovation Challenge and 2) Gold Winner of the WTM Latin America Responsible Tourism Awards, the program was a pioneer in introducing the practice of offsetting greenhouse gas emissions in Brazilian tourism.

The funds from the compensation of GHG emissions from touristic resorts and tourists are earmarked for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. There are a total of 9 Sustainable Development Goals impacted by the program, of which the following stand out: 1) Eradication of poverty; 2) Zero hunger and sustainable agriculture; 3) Good health and well-being; 9) Sustainable communities and cities; 13) Action against global climate change; 15) Life on land.

The program's vision for the future is to transform Brazilian touristic destinations

into "Climate Guardian" Destinations, a unique concept in world tourism, which engages the different social actors present in the touristic destination to act jointly and collaboratively in favor of the climate; the protection and regeneration of forests, biodiversity and natural resources; regenerative agriculture and the socio-economic inclusion of social groups living in vulnerability in the Atlantic Forest Biome.

To achieve this vision of the future, the Brazil Tourism CO2 Legal - Climate Guardians Network was created, which will support the replication of the program in different Brazilian touristic destinations. In September 2023, the Yandê Itacaré Institute - a civil society organization committed to local sustainable development - joined the Network as the program's executing entity in the municipality of Itacaré, Bahia.

The Barracuda Group, which owns two hotels in Itacaré and has the principles of socio-environmental sustainability in its DNA, has joined this initiative by giving up 2% of its daily rates revenue in favor of the climate change program.

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In 2021, the Barracuda Group founded the Yandê Itacaré Institute. The organization's mission is to contribute to the social and environmental development of the communities that Barracuda's properties work with to create unique guest experiences.

The institute promotes entrepreneurial education and stimulates socio-environmental initiatives through the exchange of knowledge, qualification and seed investment that make the plan of action for each project possible. At least 12 projects have already been initiated.

One of the standouts among them is Uruçu Viva, which supports a group of 14 beekeepers from the Pancada Grande settlement. With a focus on sustainable management, the initiative enables the conservation of colonies of the Yellow Uruçu, a bee species that is threatened due to the destruction of the Atlantic Forest.

The conservation of this species in the environment has the positive impact of increasing pollination in the areas surrounding the community, thus giving way to more flowering, more biodiversity. In addition, it stimulates the generation of revenue through honey production and by holding education courses.

Another inspiring initiative is Linhas Conscientes, which attributes autonomy and revenue generation to the women of the Itacaré community by providing training in the craft of sewing. This project promotes sustainable fashion through the concept of upcycling, a circular path of creation and reuse of fabrics and scraps.

To learn more about these and the Barracuda Group's other socio-environmental initiatives that have positive impacts, visit the Yandê Itacaré Institute website.