Primate Volunteers and Interns needed for primatology research expeditions in the Amazon 2012 and 2013

Fauna Forever (FF) is a not-for-profit organization based out of the jungle city of Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon rainforests of Tambopata in south-eastern Peru. The organization, which traces its origins back to 1997, works to promote biodiversity conservation, the sustainable use of tropical forest resources, and the continued flow of vital ecosystem services from Peru’s wild nature - for the benefit of all. It leads and supports pure and applied environmental and socio-economic research projects, training workshops, volunteer and intern programs, and forest conservation initiatives with the aim of benefiting State- and private-led protected areas, local families and communities involved in rational use of natural resources, tour guides, scientists, policy-makers, and the public at large – by documenting our understanding of the changing state of wild nature, the benefits and impacts of human activities, and helping to spread knowledge about the Amazon rainforest ecosystem.

Fauna Forever currently manages a long-term wildlife monitoring project called Fauna Forever Tambopata (FFT), specialising in mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and trees; an animal welfare project called Animal Welfare Forever, focussed on both domestic pets and some captive wild species (kept by other organizations); an environmental education and awareness initiative centred on schools in Puerto Maldonado and surrounding villages; an ecosystem services project, involving the economic valuation of intact forest; a mini-conservation corridor project called Forest Corridors Forever; a series of workshops focussing on (a) bird banding/ringing and handling techniques (Bird Ringing Forever, in collaboration with CORBIDI), (b) wildlife photography (Foto Forever, in collaboration with Untamed Photography), and (c) statistical techniques. A lot of what we do helps various groups improve their knowledge acquisition methods and encourages them to make better land-use planning decisions to reduce impacts on the environment and to maximise human wellbeing.

We are currently seeking volunteer field assistants and interns who wish to join our Primate Team for 2012 or 2013. In addition, we offer the opportunity for undergraduate- and masters-level students to undertake their thesis field work in parallel, on topics related to our core aims. For those volunteers who really want to get into tropical wildlife research and conservation, we also offer a number of “mini-projects” that can be undertaken by one or two people, with full supervision provided by our field research coordinators.
We have an alliance with the Tambopata National Reserve, AIDER, and the Bajuaja Sonene national Park. We are the monitoring force for the park and as such can provide logistics and permits in the park and surrounding zones.

Research Questions
Effect of forest structure and food resource availability on Neotropical primate abundance, group structure, and behavior in the Tambopata National Reserve, Amazonian Peru.

Qualifications/Experience:
Experience in fieldwork is a bonus, but not necessary as all participants receive full training in orientation week.

Salary/funding:
Logistical costs of the research ‘expeditions’ have to be met by participants, which is a tier-type pricing depending on the length of stay. Costs include gasoline, lodge stay or campsite, boat hire and driver, cook, food etc. in addition to equipment. Interns and research associates, if they can come for roughly 3 months, offset more of the ‘cost’ and as subsequently rates are reduced to approx $30 a day to join the core monitoring team in the field. Students can also join us as volunteers for a shorter period of time, the cost varies by date (and research site) all the volunteer rates are on the website (see website for more details www.faunaforever.org).

Contact Information:
1.5 km Careterra Tambopata
Puerto Maldonado
Peru
Website:
E-mail Address:

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