The Protected Area Volunteer Association (ASVO) will be recruiting volunteers Feb. 13, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center in the eastern San José neighborhood of Barrio Dent.
The nonprofit group, founded in 1989, states its mission is to provide Costa Rica’s national parks with volunteers – Ticos and foreigners alike – to help preserve the country’s wild places. The popular program boasts more than 1,500 participants per year.
Opportunities include working with sea turtles, ecotourism projects, trail work, environmental patrols and all manner of maintenance programs in national parks and wildlife refuges.
Activities most often take place on weekends, allowing those with busy weekday schedules to participate.
Volunteers elect to serve in one of three different categories – occasional, international or permanent – each of which is designed to accommodate work or vacation schedules.
Thus far, the group has donated the equivalent of ¢102 million (almost $200,000) in man hours to the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), according to the association’s Web site, www.asvocr.org.
For more information, attend the meeting Feb. 13 or contact ASVO directly at 258-4430 or reclutamiento@asvocr.org.
