Description
 Interns and researchers on our conservation team will work in the communities of Santa Rita and Alto Tena to monitor conservation buffer zones around the Colonso Protected Forest. The Colonso Forest is a 10,000 hectare (22,000 acre) reserve of primary rainforest that serves as the water source for the towns of Tena and Archidona.


Project Objectives
This project aims to conserve 10,000 hectares of forest by creating “buffer zones” of guayusa production to mitigate against extractive activities within the area of conservation. Through participatory research, interns will collaborate with farmers and community members to create a monitoring system of extractive activities.  Interns and researchers will also work on the policy level with local governments to assess the feasibility of generating payments for ecosystem services through a water tax fund.

Qualifications
This internship is geared towards undergraduate and graduate students majoring in environmental science, policy, business, agriculture, or a related field. Proficiency in English and Spanish is required. Experience in Latin America and/or working in a rural setting is a plus.

Intern Duties

• Work with communities to plant guayusa and other tree species in buffer zones.
• Create a baseline monitoring system of extractive economic and non-economic activities that occur in communal forest reserves and protected areas.
• Implement a household level economic analysis of agricultural and non-agricultural economic activities.
• Use GIS to create maps that outline areas of production, conservation, and communal reserves.
• Create a feasibility study for generating payments for ecosystem services through a local water tax fund.

Current Status of Research

• First household economic survey implemented November 2011.
• First plantings in buffer zones scheduled for December 2011.