European Volunteer Service in a Natural Reserve with WWF Abruzzo, in Italy

  Italy

• All Other Areas in Italy: 
Sulmona

Duration of Program: 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 7-12 months
Dates: Service starting from April 2010- Deadline 15th of October 2009 for EVS sending organizations. The candidate has to contact a EVS sending organization in order to apply.

Description: Proposed Activities for EVS Volunteers

* Activities in the field of environmental education, from March to September
- Welcoming activities for the tourists (school groups, families, tourists in general) that will visit the Natural Museum of the Reserve, the Botanical Garden and the Reserve Area in general.
- A preparatory training course will be provided to the volunteers with the aim of making them able to instruct the tourists about the attractions available and the characteristics of the local flora and fauna living within the Reserve.
- Learning objectives: tourist welcoming techniques, environmental education elements
Activities in the field of flora conservation in the botanical garden, from March to October
unskilled labor , like the management of vases and planting, pruning,collaboration in the set up of the new preparations, plant propagation (seeds, cutting, and related operations); collection of spontaneous plants; tasks to be undertaken for the herbal collection (drying up, fixing up of the samples etc..); gardening activities in general.
Learning objectives: gardening techniques, basic botanical elements
- Activities in the field of wildlife fauna monitoring in the Reserve Area:
- support for the bird ringing activities and bird monitoring ( from March to October)
- monitoring of mammals ( all year long)
Learning objectives: basic fauna- monitoring techniques, and bird-ringing techniques
- Activities in the field of leisure activities offered by the Reserve for the summertime
- open-air recreational games for kids and young people in the botanical garden and the village , open air cinema / naturalistic documentaries, open-air conferences in the main square, excursions along the Reserve, logistic help ( equipment relocation , plastic chairs positioning for conference and cinema, logistics in general).
- Learning objectives: tourist-welcoming, environmental education, basic-logistics elements, leisure activities-planning and public-event management
- Office work: activities in the field or research and communication
- Carrying out a field research on plants and setting up of a GIS localization map for the rare plants in the Natural Riserve ( especially the plant that lives only in this reserve, that is a local endemism: the Centaures Scannensis)
Learning objectives: electronic database management, GIS techniques elements
- Support in the field of communication for the organization of public events;
Learning objectives: communication and public-event planning

* Volunteer profiles and recruitment process
- The selection criteria will be only those linked to personal motivation and commitment for the themes and activities related to the Natural Reserve.
- Profile of the volunteers we would like to receive: people committed to wildlife preservation, environmental issues, eco-tourism and rural development in general . People enthusiastic about spending their time in open-air activities and in close contact with the local population and environmental activists. We will look for people interested in spending a time in their life within an isolated environment.
- The village of Anversa degli Abruzzi is characterized by the rocky environment surrounding the village and the low practicability of the streets. There are only 2 roads that are open to cars and vehicles, and, being a problem for tracks , caravans and buses to actually cross the village, an alternative road has been built, in order to bypass the village as a whole. This will be good because there will be small car-passing through the village during the next summer, but, apart from this, the rest of the village is characterized by a narrow , labyrinth-like net made of slopes and declines, so that the actual feasibility for a weal-chair volunteer to live here is unfortunately very improbable. As far as other types of volunteers with fewer opportunities, we encourage young people coming from geographically isolated places to come and experience an alternative way of living in an isolated place that is finding its own way in the eco-tourism market and environmental preservation activity. This would have a very high impact in terms of good practice exchange.
- Overall accessibility of EVS to all young people: there will be no particular restrictions for the volunteers
- Type of sending organization we want to cooperate with: environmental organizations, youth organizations in general

* Special needs (if applicable)
If your placements are open to hosting volunteers with fewer opportunities, please provide information about the competence, experience and infrastructure and (human or other) resources available in your organization to accommodate and support them. ( not applicable)

Highlights: Open air activities, environmental monitoring, office work.Requirements: will to live in an isolated village in the mountain+ strong environmental sensitivity. Group volunteering among european volunteers (multiple nationalities)

Qualifications:
- people aged between 18 and 30.
- We need an environmental activist, or an environment-interested person, who loves being in a botanical garden or in the mountains, monitoring birds and wilde animals.
- We need someone who is able to live in a small isolated village, together with other 7 volunteers from all over Europe.
- Double room to share with another volunteer ( same sex), in an independent apartment.

Cost in US$: free

Salary / Pay: no

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: 25 years old, stydying environmental sciences, environmental activist, love animals and love plants, open to intercultural situations

Age Range: 18-30

This Program is open to European Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Italy Independently

Typically Participants Work in Groups of 7

Application Process Involves:

• Resume

Post-Program Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad

WWF Abruzzo- Gole del Sagittario Natural Reserve's Mission Statement: The Regional Natural Reserve Gole del Sagittario has the aim to protect the natural environment surronding the Gole del Sagittario, the Village, and the water springs . Eco-tourism and environmental sensitization are also promoted , thanks to the scientific supervision of the WWF Abruzzo IAAP. A botanical garden is run within the reserve, that is also protecting the rare flora and vegetation living in the Reserve.

Year Founded: 1997