COPROT Conservation & Turtles

general overview

COPROT is a community-driven conservation project that aims to conserve sea turtle nesting beach habitat on the the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. We protect 8km of beach where we register over 7000 nests per season.

osa peninsula

MINIMUM 1 WEEK

wildlife conservation

1°TIME VOLUNTEER

no SPANISH NEEDED

+18 YEARS OLD

VOLUNTEER CAMP
MARIPOSA AZUL

The Mariposa Azul conservation camp in Playa Carate is right in the heart of the small rural community less than 5km from the entrance of Corcovado National Park. The camp itself is on Shady Lane, a beautiful road that connects the surrounding rainforest with the wild sea turtle nesting beaches, and is across the road from the Carate Bamboo School, one of the first sustainable schools in Costa Rica, and the community plaza.

An English speaking volunteer coordinator is living at the camp and will make each week a clear agenda with work and fun activities.

The food is included during you stay and is mostly vegetarian.

VOLUNTEERING

Volunteers needed across the board! No experience necessary, but plenty of enthusiasm to get involved and learn as well as the ability to work hard without constant supervision. This is a completely grass roots project that is in its early stages of development, so we need positive people that are highly driven to initiate change in developing communities! This is a great opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people and make a real difference to the turtles and local community members. Of course, we are always welcome to new ideas and enjoy learning new skills from our volunteers, so do not be shy to share and inspire during your stay! In addition, there is time and space for slow life & fun, together with other volunteers.

Being in COPROT is a unique and meaningful opportunity to experience life in the most legendary and also most remote destinations in all of Central America.

What is included?

Pre-departure online (mindfullness) meeting
Arrival on Sundays at Puerto Jimenez
1 overnight in Puerto Jimenez in a hostel
Monday morning 6am with colectivo/bus to Camp Mariposa Azul
Meet & greet with English volunteer coordinator at the camp
7 nights at the volunteer camp Mariposa Azul
Meals (mostly vegetarian)
Follow-up online (mindfullness) meeetings
Free activities; night walks, jungle walks, game & movie night, pizza night etc.
Poor WiFi
Day 9 (Monday) bus ticket back to Puerto Jimenez

Note: We hope that you booked more weeks.

What is NOT included?

Transport back to SJO (you can book that through us)
Beverages
Tips
Other expenses

What to consider…

Arrival airport: SJO
Project is closed during May and June
Pre-stay in San Jose upon request
Projects start on Mondays and end on Mondays, volunteers need to be in Puerto Jimenez the night before (included in the project)
Minimum is one week, but more convenient to stay for longer
Poor WiFi
Work can be physically demanding
Maximum of 16 volunteers
One of our goals is to become a zero-waste facility, consider this when planning your trip, and think about what you’re bringing to the trip
After confirmation you will receive detailed volunteer project information, a kit list, a disclaimer form and a Code of Conduct form

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

As a volunteer, you will participate in daily turtle patrols, morning patrols (3-5 hrs) or night patrols (4-7 hrs). On the patrols you will protect new nests, record data on the nesting females, see flipper tagging, excavate hatched nests, assist in the tourism element and release hatchlings! During the day, we will also have beach clean-ups, plastic classification, English lessons for local people, presentations at our local schools, and tree planting and other maintenance projects around our camp! We normally work very hard on the project and we do expect all visitors to get involved to the best of their ability to help us achieve our goals, but there’s still always plenty of time to relax and explore.

A TYPICAL DAY
AS A VOLUNTEER

Our weekly schedules must be flexible due to the nature of our environmental and community work and therefore if there are any changes to the schedule our staff will let you know as soon as possible. In terms of your work load, this will change depending on how many people are on camp, we may need you to help us out a little more than usual, but we will make sure you have time to rest. We will make sure that everyone has a minimum of one complete day off from required activities, however this will be designated by your camp leader and will fit around the weeks activities. If you would like to request a specific day off, please do so before the start of the week so it can be accounted for in the schedule.

WHAT TO DO IN
YOUR FREE TIME

There are a lot of different activities around the Osa Península.

Corcovado National Park
Surfing in Matapalo
Horse-riding – Chocolate tour
Whale and dolphin tour
Waterfall hike
Guided gold-mining tour
Plus a lot of free activities: night walks, jungle walks, beach cleans, game and movie night, pizza nights, etc.
Beach nearby the camp is NOT a alowed for swimming however you can enjoy activities such as beach playing games, looking for animals or taking in the awesome views.

The ACCOMMODATION

The rustic camp is made up of two mixed dormitory-style cabins with 8-10 volunteers per cabin, staff cabins, a communal kitchen, a chill-out area and a garden area with fruiting trees, a small greenhouse and a chicken coop. There is basic solar electricity and WiFi on the project, as well as western toilets and clean drinking water.

The trees above the buildings are regularly used as monkey crossings or perches for birds, and the river behind the property is full of small mammals and amphibians. There are lots of areas to explore in search of wildlife!!

We share our space with some awesome domestic animals.

about osa peninsula

Today you will travel to one of the most beautiful places on the planet; the Osa Peninsula, located in the Southern Pacific of Costa Rica. The Osa Peninsula is a wild, untouched natural wonderland home to 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity, with one of the last remaining tropical-humid rainforests teeming with rare animals and tropical birds, as well as some stunning palm-backed Pacific beaches. You reach Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula via a narrow neck of land in the far south of Costa Rica. This remoteness means the area has a wilder more far-flung feel than many of the country´s other jungle reserves. The Corcovado National Park was recognized by the National Geographic Society as “one of the most biologically intense places on Earth!” It cannot be overstated how precious this region of Costa Rica is, and we only work with eco-lodges where sustainability and the protection of this incredible natural habitat are first and foremost in everyone´s minds.