Sea Turtle Conservation - Costa Rica

Product Details

Visit the spectacular island of Costa Rica and help protect one of its most endangered residents. On this project you'll be working on 1 of 2 specialised marine turtle conservation projects, involved in the day to day preservation on the endangered leatherback turtle species. You could be helping out with the preparation of hatcheries, beach clearance and night patrols. The Leatherback turtles are considered critically endangered, i.e over 80% of the population lost in the last 10 years! You will receive training on the subject of marine turtles and therefore will be able help with research and data collection.

Project details:
Where you are located will depend on the time of year, the Turtle seasons are on the Caribbean coast mid March to July and on the pacific coast July to March. We work alongside research organisations and you will be assisting in vital research and conservation work to reduce the deaths of these creatures.

Why the project needs volunteers:
Turtle poaching is very common in Costa Rica and before the conservation projects started up the poaching rate was over 95% however this has now decrease to 10%.

Your role as a volunteer:
You may get involved in night beach patrols, clearing the beach, preparing hatcheries, training others on what happens on the patrols, collecting nesting turtles eggs, gathering data to keep track of the turtles during the season and general maintenance work. You will work 6 days a week with one day off to be taken any time throughout the week.

Where the project is based:
Please arrange your flight to arrive into San Jose on the specified arrival date. You will be located either on the pacific coast or Caribbean coast depending on the time of year. You will be in very basic accommodation and must be prepared to have no running or hot water, basic food and no electricity. You will not have access to internet or international telephone but will be able to get to a local town for these during your days off.