Volunteer Placement Profile Park and Reserve Assistant Volunteer
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Volunteer Placement Profile Park and Reserve Assistant Volunteer ASVO Barra Honda Park, Costa Rica www.volunteerbasecamp.com ASVO Placement ID: 135 Country: Costa Rica Location: Barra Honda Park Placement Category: Wildlife and the Environment Placement Type: Conservation Organization Type: Conservation Minimum Duration: 2 weeks Language Skill: Basic Placement Fee: 50 USD Accommodation: Host Family Only Months Not Available: Apr,Dec www.volunteerbasecamp.com Quick Facts: Placement ID: IND-135 Location: Barra Honda Park, Costa Rica Sector: Wildlife and the Environment Category: Min Duration: 2 weeks Lodging: Language: Basic Placement Fee: 50 USD Job Description Costa Rica is a country that has in its small territory, about 5% of the planet's biodiversity. This natural treasure is protected by the National System of Conservation which covers 25% of the national geography. There are 160 protected areas, of which 27 have been designated as national parks. Other areas are designated under different management categories such as wildlife refuges, biological reserves, national monuments, forest reserves, wetlands and protected areas. Costa Rica's progressive environmental policies and eco-tourism policies in their National Park System have been taken as a model for development in other countries. According to the digital magazine, Eroski Consumer, Costa Rica ranks third as one of the most ecological countries in the world. This release is based on the results of the Environmental Performance Index 2010 from the Colombia and Yale Universities in the United States. Costa Rica, was ranked third for its natural wealth, which allows it to survive, in large part, off of eco-tourism. It has also avoided deforestation, which has devastated other Latin American countries and therefore, scored well in forestry, agriculture and fishing categories. Despite the fact that Costa Rica has strong natural resources and conservation policies, in support of the protected areas; the government is sadly lacking in financial resources and can not afford to keep each place actively operating and supplied with adequate staff. Barra Honda National Park contains an amazing system of caverns, nineteen have been explored and one is open for tourists. Help is needed to protect and maintain this park's diverse dry forests, as well as to maintain and improve its infrastructure. A national park volunteer assistant is not required to have any previous experience but must have a love for the outdoors. The volunteer would be required to help maintain the park facilities, aid in the protection of natural resources, assist the park staff in the customer service division and help in the research department in the documentation regarding various flora and fauna. Equipment needed by national park volunteer assistants to bring: Lightweight and comfortable clothing Comfortable shoes or sport shoes Raincoat or poncho depending on the season. (May to October is the rainy season) Flashlight and spare batteries Alarm clock Mosquito net Basic First Aid Kit, especially for mosquito bites Water Bottle Sunscreen Volunteer Tasks Required Public Service National park volunteer assistants will aim to help provide the best customer service, to meet the different needs for information about the park that tourists require: rules and regulations while visiting the park, park access, attractions, rates, services, infrastructure and information about the flora and fauna of the park. (English speaking visitors). Monitor the Areas www.volunteerbasecamp.com A national park volunteer assistant would help in the protection of the various flora and fauna by patrolling the trails with other volunteers and staff to ensure that the areas are clear of debris and if any injured animals are found, that they receive the necessary attention. Maintenance of Trails and Facilities A national park volunteer assistant may be required to help maintain buildings by painting, cleaning and occasionally helping with construction. A volunteer may also be require to help with the maintenance of the trails by cutting brush, power mowing, weed-whacking, tree felling etc. Reforestation During the dry season in this area, the national parks suffer with the loss of a lot of endemic tree species due to the fires caused by the weather or by human carelessness. A national park volunteer assistant may be ask to help in any reforestation programs implemented by the rangers. Education A national park volunteer assistant may have the opportunity to help support environmental educational activities and assist park staff in improving their English skills through a mutual exchange in language dialogue. Research A national park volunteer assistant may be asked to participate in the documentation of various flora and fauna in the park. Every year in Costa Rica, a new species of flora and fauna has been found. The rangers are responsible for recording these findings and reporting it to the Ministry of the Environment. www.volunteerbasecamp.com Organization Details About the Organization ASVO (Association of Volunteers for Service in Protected Areas)is a non-profit and non-governmental organization that is dedicated to maintaining and preserving national parks, communities and beaches throughout Costa Rica. ASVO's mission is to promote the importance of preserving the environment by operating a number of grass-root conservation projects and conducting a variety of educational workshops throughout the country. Over the years environmental issues such as deforestation, species extinction, forest fires, and climate change have been addressed by the members of ASVO as they have worked to expand their programs to different regions in the country. The organization was founded on January 27, 1989 in the response to the growing realization that although Costa Rica is renowned for their natural resources and biodiversity, there was very little awareness around environmental protection by many people who lived in Costa Rica. Originally, ASVO focused on the preservation of national parks but as the program grew they expanded to include projects such as sea turtle conservation, community education and habitat identification. For over 20 years, ASVO has been striving to call the people throughout Costa Rica to work together to stop the devastating environmental problems. In an attempt to address some of these issues, the members of ASVO have partnered with different Costa Rican schools, government agencies, community groups, local and international volunteer organizations and other environmental agencies. Through these partnerships the members of ASVO hope to raise awareness and encourage people to get involved to help solve these pressing issues. The issues that ASVO are trying to address are very important for a number of reasons. In Costa Rica the government has allocated more than 25% of the countries land as National Parks or areas where ecosystems should be protected. The challenge is that the Costa Rican Government is unable to fund all the jobs, resources and supplies required to ensure that each area is constantly maintained, monitored and that required data that is needed to be collected from each park is conducted and kept up to date. Therefore organizations like ASVO play an important part in helping to achieve environmental objectives set out by the Costa Rican Government. Although ASVO initiatives comprise of a number of different goals the three dominant ones include deforestation, illegal hunting or poaching of endangered species and promoting educational seminars to a wide range of people. Each of the above are important to address. During the 1990's Costa Rica had one of the worst deforestation rates in Latin America. According to reports issued by "State of the World's Forests" at the beginning of the century they had approximately 99 percent of rain forest coverage that diminished quickly to 88 percent and by the 1940's the rain forest coverage was down to 35 percent. Now with the help of government initiatives and organizations like ASVO the current rain forest coverage is at about 50 percent. The reason that forests where being cut down at such alarming rates were for two primary reasons: a) increased demand for cattle b) lush wood that could be exported to other countries who were wanting that commodity and it provide increased revenue for the country to improve things like infrastructure. There was a high demand from the United States for beef exported from Costa Rica which provided incentives for people to increase agricultural output and start cattle farms. Many historians believe that the increase demand for exported cattle was the the number one cause of the rapid decline in the cutting down of massive areas of rain forests. Although deforestation has stopped dramatically, the existing forests are still under threat by illegal logging in protected zones, agricultural development in protected zones, and the need for increased environmental awareness projects to stop people from continuing to impact protected land areas. www.volunteerbasecamp.com stop people from continuing to impact protected land areas. The increase of deforestation has put a huge amount of pressure on existing ecosystems in Costa Rica. As trees were cut down the natural habitats for so many species became inhabitable. This causes growing concern and challenges because of Costa Rica's vast variety of wildlife that is found throughout the country. As a result the number of flora and fauna that are on the list of possibility of becoming distinct continually