National Park Volunteers - Costa Rica Northern Pacific Region

Parque Nacional Palo Verde

Location:
In the province of Guanacaste, between the Bebedero and Tempisque rivers, about 30 km from Cañas city.

Area Information:
Created on May 30, 1980, it has an area of 19,804 hectares, and is one of the most ecologically diverse places in the country. Among the habitats you'll find fresh water lagoons and marshes, salt water mangroves, mixed forests, riverside forests, evergreen forests, flooded forests, and wooded savannahs. From September to March, many bird species migrate to the lagoons and neighboring areas to feed and reproduce.

Volunteer Projects:

Trail restoration
Campsite cleaning
Lake monitoring of aquatic species (for Biologists and Biology students)
Tortoise monitoring
Trail design and interpretation
Infrastructure improvement group projects (trails, etc.)

Reserva Biológica Lomas de Barbudal

Location:
In San Ramon de Bagaes, 18 km southwest of Bagaces city, in the province of Guanacaste.

Area Information:
This park encompasses seven different habitats including a deciduous forest, which occupies 70% of the reserve. Inside the forest are 240 species of trees, 130 species of birds and 250 species of bees, many of them unique to Costa Rica. This national park also has lots of reptiles, fish, and mammals including deer, squirrels, congo and white-faced monkeys, raccoons, coati, peccary and breñero lions. In addition, some of the main attractions in the park are “El Colegio” and “Toldeo” trails, flora and fauna observation and waterfall.

Volunteer Projects:

Trail maintenance (individual or group project)
Makie signage in English and Spanish (individual or group project)
Brochure translation (individual)

Reserva Absoluta Natural Cabo Blanco

Location:
On the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula, in the province of Puntarenas.

Area Information:
It was declared a protected area on October 21, 1963, by the initiative of Mr. Nicolas Wessberd, a Swedish citizen, and his wife, Karen Mogensen. It has an area of 1,272 hectares on land, and 1,700 hectares on the sea. The reserve has a tropical dry forest in transition to a tropical wet forest, mostly regenerated.

Projects:

Customer care
Trail maintenance and cleaning
Work in the arboretum

Parque Nacional Barra Honda

Location:
In the province of Guanacaste, in the county of Nicoya, 22 Km northeast of Nicoya.

Area Information:
Created on August 22, 1974, it has an area of 2,295 hectares. The park represents thousands of years of geological history, which have resulted in a wide system of caves, independent of each other, with stalactite and stalagmite formations. In the present, this park has 330 hectares of shrub-like vegetation, 1,405 hectares of secondary forest, and 290 hectares of evergreen forest. The rise in animal population has been noticeable in recent years due to protection and control programs.

Volunteer Projects:

Make posters, leaflets and translations (individual project, or community work project for university teachers, studies in the field of ecotourism or environmental education)
Customer care (individual project)
Infrastucture improvement of trails, viewpoints, etc. (group project)