This initiative will fully train 100 volunteers to assist Park Rangers in combatting illegal hunting, poaching and forest fires in protected areas of Costa Rica, by providing professional courses and workshops designed for conservation and protection activities.
Costa Rica is home to 26 National parks, and many refuges and reserves - and yet the staff employed to protect these areas mount to just several hundred. Much of the land is an open haven for illegal poachers and hunters - being near imposible to track with such few trained staff. Rising global temperatures, are a cause for concern for the drought stricken northern Costa Rica. The summer brings a devastating threat - forest fires, ignited by one spark and endangering humans and livestock.
ASVO will take on the training and recruitment of 100 dedicated volunteers - to undertake preventative patrols, and to tackle forest blazes. The work is perilous, confronting hunters and poachers, and all volunteers will be intensely trained to deal with situations. This will include first aid and emergency first response, survival, environmental legislation, forest fire control and incident command. The trained volunteers will be a resource that can be disbursed where needed.
Promoting the use of civilians to help in environmental crisis, is a way of creating a more conscientous generation of Costa Ricans. Learning extra skills, and being able to put them to use with tangible outcomes will enforce our belief that the planet is our responsibility. By educating locals within their own community on how to be involved in protecting their own natural resources, future generations will have more solid role models to follow.
