The variety of fauna and flora contained in this region’s islands, rivers and bays with white or black-sand beaches, and the variety of eco-environments to see and experience is impressive.
Many travel to Bocas del Toro to participate in “voluntourism”, or helping to protect this lush tropical wilderness while being a tourist.
Natalia Decastro Gonzalez is a biologist and research coordinator with sea turtle projects at the Bocas del Toro Province. She states, “Bocas is a very important area for various species of sea turtles in different stages of their life cycle. Some of the places where the turtles come to nest are Zapatillas Cays, Chiriqui and Bluff Beach”.
It is primarily hawks-bill turtles who nest at Zapatillas and both leather-back and hawks-bill turtles on Chiriqui and Bluff Beach.
Hawks-bills are the most endangered species in the world. Green and loggerhead turtles are also native to the area and the focus of preservation efforts.
Two beach areas with volunteer programs are Playa Larga on Bastimentos Island and Soropta Beach near the mouth of the Changuinola river.
Volunteers spend three days or more living at the site and take shifts monitoring areas of the beach to protect vulnerable new hatchlings and to keep the eggs from being harvested, as well as adults (for the meat and shell) by locals which is illegal but still occurs.
Bastimentos Island is home to Bastimentos National Marine Park – established to protect the sea turtles and the abundant coral reefs found in the region.
The Institute for Tropical Ecology and Conservation (ITEC) has volunteer opportunities also, but is a non-profit professional organization primarily focused on offering field ecology courses for undergraduates and graduate students and supporting research in the academic area of tropical conservation.
They have outreach educational programs in the local community that a volunteer may be able to participate in as well as other activities.
Contact ITEC for more information on what is available during the time you want to visit.
http://wizz.to/panama/detail,21062344.html
