Internship in Costa Rica : Nature Conservation/National Parks Project
 Costa Rica is prized for its environmental and conservation efforts, but in reality, there are not enough people to maintain the large areas in conservation and to continue to educate the people in the environmental efforts. This internship is a great opportunity for anyone pursuing an environmental career. The Atenas office has only one employee for all of the local conservation efforts, so assisting him would be a great help and an excellent way to gain experience. Maintain trails in the municipal forest, promote new projects, or assist in the office. Placements can also be made directly in the national park system to maintain trails, educate visitors, and more. There are many parks to choose which include volcanos, rainforests, beaches, archeological sites, and more such as Poas, Braulio Carrillo, Carara, Manuel Antonio, Barva, Palo Verde, Santa Rosa , and Guayabo.
Skills/Qualifications
Interns must have an intermediate level of Spanish and also be conservation or environmentally focused. To work in the National Parks, interns need to have biology, ecology, or environmental studies. Interns are expected to be reliable, flexible, and patient.
Intern's Responsibilities
As an intern in the Ministry of the Environment project in Atenas, you will be maintaining trails in the Municipal Forest , assisting with new projects, and assisting with the office work. In the national parks, you will be maintaining trails, assisting visitors, educating visitors or local communities, and assisting with projects specific to the sites.
Internship in Costa Rica : Internship Project and Role of Supervisor
One of the distinguished features of IFRE internship program in Costa Rica is continuous support and guidance of your supervisor. IFRE will assign a qualified supervisor to help and guide you throughout your stay. Usually the supervisor will be the director or qualified project staff for your internship project. As an intern, you will be involved in all activities that volunteers are involved in (in this sense there is no difference between a volunteer and internship project). But the internship project will go further. In the internship, you will select a particular area of your interest related to conservation or environmental studies and explore the issue further with the help of a supervisor. Your project director DOES NOT develop an internship project for you. Therefore, you need to be very proactive to ensure the success of your internship. Your supervisor will give you at least 5 hours of time each week to guide you. However, you can contact him/her at any time for any help you may need.
 Room/Food
Room and board will be provided by the homestay families in Atenas for the entire duration of the program. They will provide 3 meals a day (lunch may be "to go" if the internship experience requires that the intern has to be gone from the house throughout the day). Experience the culture of Costa Rica , the incredible traditional food, and expand your Spanish. Supervision will be provided in Atenas for both the homestay and the internship opportunity during the entire time of the program.
If placed in the national park system, room and board will be provided on-site at the park in staff housing in shared housing. Guayabo interns would be placed in the community.
Costa Rica Internship Program Fee & Dates:
Start Dates: Internship program starts on the following (first and third Monday of each month)
IFRE is proud to offer all of the services that our competitors offer at a very special economical price (nearly 50-175% less). We here at IFRE do not make 6-figured salaries; and we work very hard and smart to keep costs down especially for you the intern where it counts the most. We remain devoted to maintaining both the quality of the program and the safety of all interns involved. Here is a brief summary of the program fee and services that IFRE offers:
IFRE is a 501 (C) 3 organization so your program fee will be tax deductible as provided by law.
IFRE application fee: US $349. The application fee covers advertising, program promotion, and office expenses (rent, utilities, and staff salaries).
Internship program fee |
What's Included in Program Fee |
- 4 days: US$529
- 1 week: US$704
- 2 weeks: US$823
- 3 weeks: US$950
- 4 weeks: US$1076
- 5 weeks: US$1353
- 6 weeks: US$1454
- 7 weeks: US$1556
- 8 weeks: US$1657
- 9 weeks: US$1834
- 10 weeks: US$1935
- 11 weeks: US$2037
- 12 weeks: US$2136
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Program fee covers comprehensive insurance, room and food ( 3 local meals a day) for the entire project period, a donation to the project, Costa Rican office expenses (rent, utilities, salaries), communication, and project coordination.
Costa Rica language program fee:
No fee for Spanish language classes. Costa Rica program fee covers 2 hours per day of free Spanish lessons (for up to 12 weeks for Beginner and Intermediate level students).
Additional costs for Interns
Airport drop-off and pick-up/reception services ($75), internal transportation ($1-4 each day depending up on location of project and language school or host family), international and domestic flights, visa extensions, personal expenses on water/soft drinks/entertainment ($1-3 per day), telephone, exit tax at the airport ($26), tourism activities in the country, and immunizations.
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