FAUNA FOREVER MANU

Fauna Forever Manu (FFM) is a training and research programme designed to develop future leaders in Neotropical biodiversity assessment, wildlife monitoring, project management and protected area stewardship. The programme aims to identify and develop people who will go on to make an important contribution to our understanding of natural environments and how they change over time, people who will be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to manage natural resource monitoring projects and conservation areas across the Neotropics. FFM will accomplish this through involving participants from Latin America and around the World in a special set of training courses that include tropical ecology, experimental design and monitoring techniques, team building and problem solving, tropical first aid, as well as communication and presentation skills, amongst others. This will be followed by active hands-on experience in an environmental monitoring project underway in three contrasting habitats in and around the Manu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Peruvian Amazon.
Jobs and Other Opportunities
Those participants who show most promise will be offered part-time or permanent jobs in CREES and partner organisations, as well as opportunities to continue volunteering in the area as Resident Naturalists in research stations and ecolodges such as the Manu Learning Centre – opportunities that will lead to a strong career development path.
Location
The Fauna Forever Manu programme will take place in the Manu National Park and its buffer zone that make up the Manu Biosphere Reserve - one of the largest at 4M ha and arguably the most important conservation areas in the whole of the Amazon basin. The Manu area is also considered an integral component of the longest and most important conservation corridor in the Amazon - 17 interlinked parks and reserves that together cover 20M ha and cross 1,000 km of rainforest between Vilcabamba in central Peru and Amboro in central Bolivia.
Organisation
The organisation responsible for implementing Fauna Forever Manu is The Rainforest Resource & Education Centre (CREES in Spanish), a Peruvian not- for-profit organisation founded in 2002 and based in the Andean city of Cusco that designs, develops and implements education, research, conservation, and natural resource management programmes in Peru with an emphasis on the Manu Biosphere Reserve. CREES is managed by a multidisciplinary team of experts from the fields of tropical ecology, anthropology, and journalism.
History
Fauna Forever Manu has been built up from a process dating back to 1997 when the first Fauna Forever programme was run in Tambopata, a reserve located to the east of Manu. The Fauna Forever Tambopata programme recently finished its second season of training and monitoring and has to date developed the skills of more than 100 people from around the World. See www.faunaforever.com
Who will FFM appeal to?
Fauna Forever Manu will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students of the biological, environmental and geographical sciences, and to those people who want to take a giant leap forward in developing strong field research skills and applying environmental monitoring and team building techniques in Neotropical habitats. Some GAP-year students thinking of studying for one of the above subjects will also be given the opportunity to participate, although places will be limited. Peruvian park guards, tour guides and personnel from non-governmental organisations who require skills to successfully manage people as well as state-of-the-art techniques to gauge environment health will also take part and will contribute to the multicultural nature of the programme.
When does FFM begin?
Fauna Forever Manu will begin in earnest on 1st July 2005 and will run for an initial period of 3 years. The programme is divided into phases, twelve in all. All phases are 70 days long. Partial programmes of 35 days are ocassionally available for those people strapped for time.
How much does it cost?
International participants from countries other than Peru will be expected to pay a Participation Fee. This fee will go towards covering in-country costs associated with the placement, such as accommodation, transport (road and river), food, training, manuals, basic equipment, certificates, as well as entrance and research permits for the Manu National Park. Funds to cover Peruvian participants will be secured from internal funds and external donations and grants. Details of the participation fee can be found on the FFM website: http://www.crees-manu.org/ffm/ffm_home.htm
How to apply...
Download the application form from the above website, fill it out and email it to us at the address that appears below.
Contact
Please contact the Fauna Forever Manu management team, led by Chris Kirkby and Armando Valdes, at: CREES Calle San Miguel 250 Cusco PERU
Tel: +51 84 262433
Email: info@crees-manu.org
Website: www.crees-manu.org