Thank you for your interest in volunteering at Jardin Gaia. To become more familiar with the center, our work, and our volunteer program, please explore this website and review the following information. If you are still interested in volunteering, forward the requested application information to us, preferably by e-mail (wildlife@cariari.ucr.ac.cr). Please note that regular mail will take about 2 weeks from USA & Canada but at least 3 weeks from Europe.

In order to lower our operational costs we can't afford to make international calls or faxes. So if you need to contact us,write, call or fax us during office hours at:

Jardín Gaia Project
P.O.Box 182 - 6350 Quepos
Costa Rica - Central America
Phone/Fax (506) 777-0535
Phone/Fax (506) 777-1004

We look forward to hearing from you!

Volunteer Program

• Background
• Volunteer Positions
• Schedule
• Requirements
• What to Bring
• Accommodation
• Benefits
• Fees
• How To Apply

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

Background

Within the last four years over 392 volunteers from 29 countries have worked at Jardin Gaia, caring for and feeding the animals, cleaning cages, and assisting with the center's current projects. Upon their return home, many volunteers keep helping by donating veterinary equipment, literature and medicine or by recruiting more volunteers. Several came back for a second period.

For the year 2000 we are going to develop four main programs. For each program we plan to hire a Coordinator and have no more of four Volunteers per program.

Volunteer Positions

1. Veterinary Students will work in the Clinic supervised by our resident DVM.
2. Botany students will work in the field , in the Greenhouse and the Laboratory under the supervision of our taxonomist.
3. General Volunteer will join the Education Program.

1. Veterinary Program

   In the last 4 years over 86 veterinary students from 20 different Veterinary Schools joined our unique program. For 2000 , in coordination with Ministry of Environment Officials and the Costa Rican Veterinary School we plan to expand our activity including all the 4 subregions of the Central Pacific Conservation Area. This will provide more opportunities for our Volunteers to interact with almost all the wildlife species of the country.

   • Cleaning cages, feeding animals.
   • Checking animals' health, food preparation
   • Assessing the health of new animals brought to the rescue center
   • Checking cages and collecting samples
   • Checking species, processing samples, research
   • Assisting with current projects of the rescue center
   • Participating in rescue and release of wildlife
   • Educational tours

2. Botanical Program

   We are improving our plant collections. The main focus of Jardin Gaia is actually on orchids, but we plan to build up good collections of other epiphytic families, such as bromeliads, Araceae, epiphytic ferns and cacti.

   This means a good opportunity to do some field work collecting epiphytes in the wet forests of central Pacific Costa Rica. We are maintaining our actual collections and you will learn on greenhouse management with scheduled fertilization, pests control, pollination, etc.

   Preparation of plant specimens for the herbarium and the spirit collection of the Center, the input of information and management of botanical databases, and botanical illustration of interesting taxa are part of the jobs of our Volunteers.

   We have now a functional and well equipped Micropropagation Laboratory as Orchid reproduction is an essential component of the project at Gaia, and we hope you have some skill to begin the work in this area. Furthermore we want to test different orchid media to experiment germination rate with the many different genera and species of this area.

   We are improving the presentation of the garden as a specialized center on epiphytes. This imply the arrangement of epiphytic plants on the trees of the Garden and establishing Heliconias, Musacee and other plants along the trails.

   • Field work, collecting plants
   • Plant arrangement for greenhouse culture
   • Identification of plant specimens
   • Preparation of specimens intended for herbarium
   • Management of the greenhouse (watering, fertilization, etc.)
   • Management of botanical databases
   • Botanical illustration
   • Micropropagation in the laboratory
   • Outdoor plant arrangement in the garden
   • Educational tours

3. Educational Program

   Activities of volunteers in this category include the following:

   • Preparing educational signs, theme exhibitions, slideshows, etc.
   • Receiving local area school children for group tours
   • Conducting educational tours for visitors at scheduled hours.
   • Taking care of the *not releasable animals*: cleaning cages, feeding animals.
   • Conducting guided educational tours for visitors at scheduled hours : 11 am, 2 pm & 4 PM
   • Manual Work: Building cages, nest boxes, painting , cleaning, building and maintaining trails in the property. informational signs
   • Office work: Answering the phone, updating our visitors mailist
   • Promotion: Distributing promotional flyers, and developing a newsletter
   • Butterfly Garden: Maintaining the garden, collecting eggs, raise the caterpillars.
   • Natural History Museum: Maintain the insects and scheletons collections, describe the nine life zones of the central pacific coast.
   • Assisting with current projects of the Botanical Garden & the Rescue center

SCHEDULE (DAILY ROUTINE)

6 - 8.30 am	Cage Cleaning & animal food preparation
8.30 am - 9am	Breakfast
9 - 12.30	Individual project time
11am , 2pm , 4pm	Open to visitors for Guided Tours
12.30 - 1.30 PM	Lunch
2pm - 5pm	Individual project time
6pm	Dinner

There are two hours off per day and there is one day off per week per Volunteer to be planned weekly with the Volunteer Coordinator

REQUIREMENTS

• Volunteers must stay at least one month and no longer then 3 months. For longer commitment you will be accepted only after the first period.
• Need to work with and handle animals.
• Adapt to outdoor living in a tropical climate, with simple living accommodations.
• Have a maturity level to work in a foreign land for an extended time period with people from other countries and age groups.
• The ability to speak some Spanish, while not required, is very beneficial.
• Have a personal medical insurance plan to cover your stay in Costa Rica.
• Doctor's certificate of current tetanus and measles vaccination, and a negative TB. test within the last six months, are required.

WHAT TO BRING

Towels, sheets, pillow case, good trekking shoes for your free time, flash light. Bring clothes you won't mind getting dirty and that will dry relatively quickly (e.g., nylon compounds or light cotton).

We are at sea level in a very humid tropical area. Dry season is December - April and rainy season May - November. Cotton clothes, windbreaker, or light rain gear are recommended.

The area is not as subjected to malaria as the Atlantic coast, however volunteers should bring insect repellent. All houses have fly-netting on the windows .The tap water is safe. Quepos has a brand new hospital and many doctors are bilingual.

In Quepos there is a post office, drugstore, supermarkets, 3 banks, an International Phone Calls Office, Internet facilities, a brand new Hospital and a local airport and bus station with daily flights or trip to San José and other areas.

ACCOMMODATION

There are two quarters for volunteers. The entrance house has 6 beds in two separate rooms, bathroom with shower (cold water only) and sink. The hill house has four bedrooms with two bathrooms and two showers.

There is a common kitchen and eating area for volunteer use, with stove, sink, refrigerator.

Volunteer's clothes and blankets will be washed by our employee twice a week.

BENEFITS

1. Volunteers have access to the center's library, maps, computers
2. Free entrance into Manuel Antonio National Park. (Tickets for Costa Rica Natl. Parks are usually $ 6 a day per person)
3. Special offers with local Tour Operators.

FEES

Volunteers are required to pay a monthly fee of US$400 (four hundred) to help cover utility bills and infrastructure maintenance. This include lodging in the Center and food expenses for 3 daily meals and a biweekly laundry service.

Volunteers must send the fee in advance. This is our only way to insure the volunteer's arrival, and guarantee we have sufficient staff to care for the animals and develop the different programs.

If you are accepted into the program and subsequently cancel, Jardin Gaia will refund you ONLY IF another volunteer can fill your spot. If you fail to arrive with no previous notification or you quit during your stay you will lose your entire fee.

HOW TO APPLY

Send a resume and 2-3 paragraph description of your background, relevant experience, reasons for your interest in volunteering, as well as length of stay and preferred volunteer dates. Contact Dario Castelfranco, Director of Jardin Gaia, via e-mail wildlife@cariari.ucr.ac.cr

List e-mail box address where you can be reached to help keep down the cost of communication. He will contact you and let you know if your application has been accepted, and if those dates are available. Applications should be sent at least 3 - 6 months prior to anticipated arrival. Your reservation will be guaranteed when you wire us your fee, in advance.

Please note that the Volunteer Program will start January 8th 2000.

Sincerely, Dario Castelfranco, Director