Volunteer conservation projects

Want to see our new BETA site? - Click Here >>
Your thoughts and feedback would be great - newsite@gapyear.com
The information in the gapyear.com placement database is provided by each individual company. Gapyear.com claims no responsibility for inaccurate, misleading or libellious information. Please ensure that you check all details with the specific organisation before booking or accepting placement.

GYC2893 - Rainforest Conservation
Country: Costa Rica
Cost: £2700.00

Please note: £2700 for three months. Each additional month is £475. Cost also includes unlimited health, public liability & baggage insurance, good accommodation, all project related travel, weekend trip, comprehensive in-country support, Spanish CD course, language course on arrival, airport pick up. In the UK we meet you to discuss the project in detail before any commitments are made. Shortly before departure we provide a thorough briefing.
Cost Includes: The price includes insurance, accommodation, food, pickup from airport and visas but does not include flight or kit insurance included in price accommodation included in price food included in price airport pickup included in price visa included in price 
Duration: 3 months
Company Rep Nearby: Various
0845 344 7588 or
 
   
  This placement would suit... Anyone with an interest in wildlife who wants to live and work in a wonderful rainforest environment.

The Trimbina Rainforest Centre is a division of the Milwaukee Public Museum. This not-for-profit organisation was created for the preservation of natural forest, environmental education, and scientific research. Tirimbina is one of the most studied rainforest sites of the region, and for the last 30 years has attracted scientists from around the World. One-third of the Tirimbina forest is used for eco-tourism and education, while the remainder is maintained as untouched rainforest. With 840 acres of rare, mid-elevation rainforest (premontane) and its eight kilometres of trails that highlight the river and forest environments, it has now been declared a Costa Rican National Wildlife Refuge. The former owner, Dr. J. Robert Hunter of Wisconsin, USA, was a pioneer in tropical agronomy and an early advocate of rainforest conservation.

Responsibilities / activities

Volunteers are needed to help maintain the impressive array of trails, walkways and bridges. Volunteers can also be involved in eco-tourism initiatives such as education programmes for visitors, which includes presentations, guided tours of the rainforest trails, workshops in natural history, arts and culture, short eco-courses in natural history subjects, school classes in biodiversity, aquatic studies, wildlife communities and forest analysis.

You can also assist Costa Rican researchers who are studying tropical ecology and biodiversity. Volunteering at the reserve allows for a unique opportunity to learn about the rainforest, conservation of the reserve, and the different species that live there, including tropical birds, a huge number of amphibians and 110 different species of bat! It also allows a volunteer to immerse themselves in a different culture and language.

Accommodation / food / language / time off

Outreach InternationalAccommodation is on-site within a volunteer house. There are two shared bedrooms, showers, toilets, dining area and kitchen facilities. In front of the volunteer house there are hammocks to relax in and an area to wash your clothes. You would be with other Outreach International volunteers but have the opportunity to socialise with the other Costa Rican volunteers and researchers.

In the main reception building there is a library and communal area where films are rented out and projected for the volunteers in the evenings. The accommodation is self-catering and you can buy food from the supermarket in the local town one mile away. Working hours are normally 8am until 5pm. Weekends are free for travelling and exploring on bicycle, by bus or by taxi. Tirimbina is situated approximately one mile from the town of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui and volunteers normally walk or take a bus there.

Outreach International provide all volunteers with a Latin American Spanish CD course prior to departure and volunteers also receive a one-week intensive Spanish course in country.

0845 344 7588


Outreach International: if you're thinking of participating in volunteer work abroad, we are a specialist organisation that places committed volunteers in carefully selected meaningful projects. We have a wide variety of opportunities but all of them are small, worthwhile, grassroots initiatives working with communities where volunteer work abroad can make a big difference. They are all regularly visited by the Outreach director. Every volunteer is personally met and briefed about their selected project. Outreach International have a clear mission statement and operate a carbon neutral programme.





 
   

The information in the gapyear.com placement database is provided by each individual company. Gapyear.com claims no responsibility for inaccurate, misleading or libellious information. Please ensure that you check all details with the specific organisation before booking or accepting placement.


 
   © Copyright 1998-2007 - The Gapyear Company Ltd - Company Registration No: 3597000
Media logos