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| Title | Volunteer Researcher on Flora or Fauna of the Cloud Forest |
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| Description |
This volunteer opportunity involves self-directed research and forest restoration work in a cloud forest nature reserve in Costa Rica.
Cloudbridge, situated in a beautiful and remote cloud forest on one of the highest mountains in Central America, is a private nature reserve in Costa Rica. It was created to preserve and reforest an important gap in the cloud forest adjoining the Chirripo Pacifico river on the slopes of the Talamanca mountain range. The reserve adjoins the primary forest of Chirripo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cloudbridge has been selected as a site in the Smithsonian Institution's Global Biomonitoring Project. Successful candidates will conduct one of several research studies. Four positions are available from November, 2008 onward. Specific assignments will be tailored to the volunteer's background and interests. Research is needed on the local species of plants and animals, including identification and inventory. Baseline studies are essential to enable comparisons over time as the ecology recovers and the plantation progresses. Beyond that, a great deal remains to be learned about species' habitats and behavior, and the effects of deforestation and reforestation on them. The cloud forest of Cloudbridge is home to numerous species of birds, including parrots, many hummingbirds, and even the Resplendent Quetzal. Many are endemic to the Talamanca highlands. The reserve shelters spider monkeys, peccaries, sloths, tapirs and other mammals. And lots of arthropods, most of which probably remain to be identified. Bromeliads, orchids, mosses and other epiphytes abound, as do heliconias, tree ferns, vines, lianas, lichens and other flora. Each tree carries a prolific and complex ecosystem of epiphytes, insects, fungi and bacteria as well as birds and mammals. At a more micro level, a single leaf often harbors lichens, liverworts and minuscule creatures feeding on the organic matter and on one another. Much remains to be discovered. Pictures and maps of the reserve and its inhabitants may be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/cloudbridge All research volunteers also help with the reforestation project, and with education and community interaction. Because our primary concern has been reforestation to restore the the native forest and habitats, you may help collect seedlings from the neighboring lower montane cloud forest to nurture in our vivero (nursery). We plant the seedlings at the beginning of the rainy season (May-July). Related tasks are year-round maintenance, growth monitoring, and trailbuilding. We plant a variety of species representing the diversity of the surrounding forest. We monitor the habitat recovery on a regular basis. Research interns pay all their own travel and accommodation costs. Volunteers can usually stay in Casa Amanzimtoti, adjacent to the reserve, or nearby, at a low cost. We can give more details upon request. More information is available on the Cloudbridge web site, www.cloudbridge.org. See in particular the existing list of studies at http://cloudbridge.org/researchreports.htm and the Volunteer FAQ at http://cloudbridge.org/volunteerfaq.htm and much more about Cloudbridge can be found at http://cloudbridge.org/sitemap.htm. US Address: |