Friends of the Osa

The goal of our sea turtle conservation program is to guarantee the health and ecological success of the sea turtles nesting on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, by integrating conservation, research, and educational outreach.

Our volunteers come from all over the world in order to help save sea turtles. With the help of volunteers we have protected more than 16,000 sea turtle hatchlings over the last two nesting seasons and carried out a number of educational projects to raise local awareness about the importance of conservation on the Osa Peninsula. We rely on volunteers to provide the level of coverage that makes this project successful and it is our goal to provide an enriching personal experience for everyone who contributes their time to this project. Because we are expanding our program for the 2010 season to cover from Piro beach all the way to Carate (a total of 18 km of beach) we need your help now more than ever!

As a volunteer you will:
Be an integral part of night beach patrols
Conduct morning beach surveys
Take biometric measurements of sea turtles
Record data and enter into database
Assist in applying identification tags
Monitor nesting sites
Take sand temperature
Cover nests with protective screens
Mark nests
Evaluate nesting and hatchling success

No prior experience or knowledge of Spanish in required, while English speakers have ample opportunity to practice and develop their Spanish language skills. Interested volunteers may also have the opportunity to get involved in local environmental education by working with students at the Osa's elementary schools.

Everyone participating in the Friends of the Osa Sea Turtle Conservation Program will pay a $200 program fee. This fee covers basic administration costs and provides the funds necessary to pay field coordinators to supervise and assist volunteers in the field and ensures the longevity of the program.

We have restructured our program so that we can cover beaches all the way to Carate. In order to do this we are working in close partnership with some local lodges between Piro and Carate. For more information on lodging options see our site:

http://www.osaconservation.org/Volunteer.html

The prices vary from $300-350 per week in addition to the one-time program fee.

What is included in the cost:
7 nights lodging at your choice of location
3 meals per day prepared for you
Educational presentation about sea turtles
Training in data collection and turtle field work
Supervision by a field coordinator on beach patrols
Sea Turtle Conservation Program t-shirt
Tour to natural frog pond to see red-eyed tree frogs, hourglass tree frogs, cat eyed snakes, and much more
2 hour nature hike

What is NOT included in the cost:
Your round trip international air travel to and from Costa Rica, including $26 airport departure tax
Any domestic travel to get to the Osa Biodiversity Center or Carate from San Jose
Personal expenses such as laundry, phone calls, etc.
Tours that we have not included above

How to Apply:

Before you apply, please make sure you've reviewed all the information provided in the Volunteer Manual to become familiar with volunteer duties on the Osa and read our Visitor Information. When applying, please follow these steps:

1. Send the completed application form to seaturtles@osaconservation.org. Please make sure to indicate the weeks that you will participate in the program.

2. Once we approve your application, you can send your signed volunteer agreement and acknowledgement as well as the $200 program fee. If you choose to stay at Friends of the Osa's Piro Research Center, you can make one payment based on the number of weeks you will volunteer (for example, $500 for one week, $800 for two weeks, etc.).

3. If you choose to volunteer on the beaches of Carate and stay at an independent lodge, you will need to first pay the $200 program fee to Friends of the Osa and indicate which week(s) you would like to volunteer. We will then confirm your registration with the lodge and you will make your lodging and accommodations payment with them directly.

Remember that volunteer weeks at Piro Research Center begin every Tuesday while volunteer weeks in Carate begin every Thursday. This schedule allows us to provide a thorough program orientation to all volunteers.

If you have any questions or need more details, please visit our volunteer page at

http://www.osaconservation.org/Volunteer.html

Working with sea turtles since 2003