Description

ASVO (Association of Volunteers for Service in Protected Areas)is a Costa Rican organization that is dedicated to maintaining and preserving national parks, communities and beaches throughout Costa Rica. The organization was started in, 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 focusing on the preservation of national parks, the program eventually expanded to include sea turtle conservation, community education and habitat identification.

ASVO is a non-profit and non-governmental organization whose 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 through the country.

ASVO places volunteers in national parks and other areas protected by the Ministry of Environment and Energy all over the country. The organization currently has stations in twenty-eight different locations all over Costa Rica, from Corcovado in the south to Guanacaste in the north. These projects are divided into four categories: Wildlife Refuges, Education and Communities, Sea Turtle Projects and National Parks.

This placement needs volunteers to help protect one of the most diverse tropical forests in the country, and to improve and maintain the park’s infrastructure. This park has so much to offer visitors, including the chance to see firsthand the effects of an active volcano, but much work needs to be done in order to ensure that this park is protected from erosion and to ensure its safety for visitors.

Volunteers can help with the following tasks:

1. Working in important sites within the park which present a high risk of erosion, creating barriers to help limit the amount of erosion.

2. Working in the parts of the park with areas that are unsafe for tourists, building barriers to improve access to the different areas of the park.

3. General repairs to the park’s trails.

4. Environmental education for local communities.

5. Communal work: help with social activities, infrastructure and others.

Volunteers are required to work 6 days a week, 5 to 6 hours per day.

The volunteer should have the desire to work in a national park and enjoy physical work.

Patience, motivation, dedication.

People who do not enjoy physically demanding work and living in a remote place may have a hard time on this placement.

URL: http://www.basecampvolunteerabroad.com/sites/bc-volunteer-abroad/place_details.cfm?pl_id=243
Tags: conservation, Costa Rica, volunteer, volunteering
Stats:

Images

There are no images

Sponsored Links