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On the trail of the horned guan, the jaguar, the quetzal and the tapir

Sumary

Theme: Conservación y monitoreo biológico Placement Core zone at El Triunfo Biosfere Reserve, and a coffee farm and at Independencia on the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Requeriments: Mínimum age of 18 years old, good phisical condition, strong interest on conservation, some knowledge of Spanish. Project language: Mainly Spanish and limited English Highlights: This is a unique opportunity to visit one of the remotest and beautyful places in the world: the cloud forest of El Triunfo and look for critically threatened species: Jaguar (Panthera onca), Tapir (Tapirus bairdii), resplendent quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) and horned guan (Oreophasis derbianus). The long treks on the trails are also a good chance to watch other local flora and fauna species. This is an ongoing project carried by a research team formed by experienced park rangers and scientific researches whom use diverse techniques such as traps cameras, analysis of tracks and food, animal behavior and geographical reference systems. Short description: The general purpose of this project is to investigate the condition of the species populations, which are priority for the conservation of El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve. Throughout the year, the volunteers can collect the fieldwork data for the biological monitoring, which is carried out by the park rangers and researchers. The work is done on two sites: in the core zone of El Triunfo, with its base in El Triunfo Camp and on a coffee farm. Both sites are situated in El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico.

Date of start february the 15th 2010 Volunteers needed 4 Duration Minimum 3 months Maximum 10 mo. Prices (In US dollars) 3 months $ 4,500 4 months $ 5,400 5 months $ 6,300 6 months $ 7,200 Additional month $ 900 Book online    Other projects Promoting fair trade of organic coffee at CESMACH Teach English and institutional development

 

Detailed information

A typicial day’s fieldwork

Very early at sunrise, after having a cup of high quality coffee, produced locally, the team leaves the camp to walk along the path assigned for that day. The team divides into 2 or into smaller groups of 2 people to be able to move around making as little noise as possible and so that the fauna of the site is able to perceive as little disturbance as possible. During the 3 kilometre-long path, the observers record the information of the presence of an individual of the priority species on previously designed formats. If physical evidence is found, it should be collected in labelled bags, photographs should be taken, and other methods used and recorded for their subsequent analysis in the laboratory. At 11.00 in the morning, after five hours of walking, the team returns to the camp to prepare and eat lunch and to organize the collected samples and prepare for the following excursion in the afternoon. At around 5.00pm, the second walk begins in which new evidence of the physical presence of the priority species will be collected. The work finishes at 7.30pm and you return to the camp to prepare and eat dinner, to talk to the park rangers and organize the excursion for the following day.

A typical week’s fieldwork

Sunday is used to move from the independent office to the sampling site, to set up camp and prepare the materials that will be used during the week. The teams are organized and the field materials are distributed. From Monday to Friday you walk along each of the five previously defined paths collecting samples and recording observations. In the evenings, you organize the samples and verify that the information is recorded correctly. On Saturday morning, you collect the equipment, materials and samples and travel back to the independent office where you hand in the samples and records to the person in charge of the biological monitoring from the CONANP.