Ecotourism - A Peace Corps Volunteer will be solicited from Peace Corps Guatemala to help oversee the process.

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Guatemala: Peace Corps Guatemala: Peace Corps in Guatemala: Ecotourism - A Peace Corps Volunteer will be solicited from Peace Corps Guatemala to help oversee the process.

By Admin1 (admin) on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 3:59 pm: Edit Post

Ecotourism - A Peace Corps Volunteer will be solicited from Peace Corps Guatemala to help oversee the process.



Ecotourism - A Peace Corps Volunteer will be solicited from Peace Corps Guatemala to help oversee the process.

Ecotourism - A Peace Corps Volunteer will be solicited from Peace Corps Guatemala to help oversee the process.

This project promotes ecotourism to benefit Uaxactun villagers by focusing on ecotourists that reach the Tikal National Park and the communities around Lake Petén Itza, in Peten, Guatemala. Advertising of opportunities for ecotourists interested in experiencing a "forest village" environment are being developed.

Negotiations with the Tikal National Park have been initiated to develop a kiosk in the park that advertises Uaxactun and sells maize dolls and other village handicrafts. The core of this project involves the development of a 25 kilometer trail with 3 "miradores", or lookout points, built on top of trees. The miradores will be linked by an improved trail running inside the Uaxactun concession, in areas that will be zoned for xate and chicle collection. Xate and chicle are Non Timber Forest Products. Uaxactun villagers have proposed no hunting areas around the miradores, effectively promoting the establishment of small wildlife refuges along the trail to enhance opportunities for ecotourists interested in wildlife viewing.

A village ecotourism coordinator will work in conjunction with Ecotourism and Adventure Specialists and established village interests including: El Chiclero Camp, Uaxactun’s Eco-Cultural Guide Association and the Eco-Camping facility in Uaxactun. The coordinator will also be responsible for overseeing village construction of the miradores and trails.

A Peace Corps Volunteer will be solicited from Peace Corps Guatemala to help oversee the process. Training workshops for guides and restaurant owners will be provided by Ecotourism and Adventure Specialists' staff, to prepare Uaxactun villagers to be able to meet the needs of ecotourists.

The village is discussing a small ecotourism tax to be given voluntarily by all village industries that benefit from ecotourism. This tax will be paid to OMYC- Organization for Management and Conservation- and will be used for Uaxactun’s kiosk maintenence in the Tikal National Park and for kiosk-staff salary.

Ecotourism and Adventure Specialists voluntarily offered to award OMYC 5% of all net earnings from any ecotourists taken to, or through Uaxactun for its projects and for additional equipment and training for the Uaxactun Guide Association.

As a non-governmental, non-for-profit organization WCS’s role will ensure financial transparency. WCS scientific and technical assistance is invaluable for this project’s success. The integration of the ecotourism component to the other projects WCS is carrying out in Uaxactun ensures a consistent conservation strategy and a future for this important part of the Maya Biosphere Reserve and Uaxactun’s Forest Society. We believe this is a good example of how private enterprise, local villagers and conservation organizations may join efforts for conservation working as a team and contributing their resources and their skills, each doing what they do best



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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Guatemala; Special Interests - Ecotourism

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By Mendy Rijcken on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 1:59 pm: Edit Post

hello,

I am Mendy Rijcken from holland and i am now travelling from mexico to guatemala. i would like to voluteer in a project in guatemala (tikal or elsewere, a project for preserving the nature and indiginous culture. I can work for 2 or 3 weeks because the end of januari i need to be elsewere in guatemala.
What are possibilities for me?

I hope to recieve an reaction.

Thank you,

greetings from Mendy

mendyrijcken@hotmail.com

By Edith Uttenthaller (pcrproxy2.pcr.univie.ac.at - 131.130.221.3) on Thursday, January 08, 2004 - 8:24 am: Edit Post

hello, I am Edith from Austria and looking for a project to volunteer in summer 2004. I have worked and graduated in tourism tree years ago and am now studying social and cultural anthropology. I am now specializing in international development, ecology and tourism. Do you have any possibilities for me to get some practical experience?
Thanks in advance!
Yours, Edith Uttenthaller

By thomas kokshoorn (7.150.intelnet.net.gt - 216.230.150.7) on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 8:30 pm: Edit Post

Hello! i`m thomas kokshoorn from holland. I`m looking for volunteerwork in the tikalregion, for 3 or 4 weeks in februari 2006.

I arrived in Guatemala at 22nd of november 2005. Studied 5 weeks spanish, so i can understand en speak a little spanish.

At the moment (14 januari) I`m volunteering in Antigua Guatemala. I`m working at a small school, with small childeren.

This project finishes at 3 februari, and after it, i would like to go to tikal, for volunteering.

What kind of options do I have? Hope to hear soon from you

Yours sincerly,

Thomas Kokshoorn

e-mail: thomas_kokshoorn@hotmail.com

By Brady or Brooke Ewing (host-69-146-171-58.static.bresnan.net - 69.146.171.58) on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 1:43 am: Edit Post

Hi, I am not even sure this is going on anymore, but my husband and I just spent about 10 months living with the kekchi of the Chulac, Alta Verapaz region, which isn't super close but we were sent to Uaxactun on various occasions to collect some baseline data for an NGO that was interested in doing some work down there, we both speak fluent spanish and some kekchi, although everyone (even the kekchi) of uaxactun speaks spanish. We have a lot of data we collected and our survey was an in home survey and we took a 50% sample size. We are familiar with OMYC and WCS and how the members of the community feel towards the organizations as most were extremely honest with us being that we had no tie to either organisation. Please let us know if we could be of any help with the information we have about the people there. We were able to really get to know the people. thanks!
Brady and Brooke Ewing


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