Volunteers sought to save endangered Javan Rhino
Volunteer Service Abroad is on the look out for a biologist
and a community development specialist to work in Vietnam’s
Cat Tien National Park – home to five to 10 of an estimated
70 Javan Rhinos remaining in the world.
The volunteers
will be part of a joint project between the Vietnamese
Government and the World Wide Fund for Nature to, among
other things, save one of the world’s most endangered
mammals.
Cat Tien National Park covers more than 74,000
hectares, in three different provinces, and is home to at
least 55 species of mammals, 300 types of birds, and 40
species of reptiles. Other endangered species in the park
include the Indochinese tiger, reticulated python and the
green peafowl. Rare, but not yet endangered, animals include
leopards, red giant flying squirrels, white winged wood
ducks and black ibis.
The community development
specialist will work alongside the park’s estimated 7000
inhabitants – about half of which belong to two indigenous
ethnic groups.
The specialist will help develop
income-generating opportunities with a net conservation
benefit for the park and local population and work to help
enhance understanding and awareness of conservation issues
amongst the park staff and local communities.
The
biologist will be working alongside park staff in designing
and implement ecological surveys, formulating a management
plan, and developing resource materials for local primary
and secondary schools.
The deadline for applications for
both positions, which are expected to commence in August, is
Friday 26 May.
VSA is a not-for-profit international
development agency that has been placing New Zealand
volunteers in developing countries since 1962. At present it
has more than 80 volunteers working in the South Pacific,
Asia and Africa.
VSA volunteers receive a living
allowance, plus free accommodation, airfares, and
utilities.
For further information about the above
positions contact: Margie Meates, VSA, P O Box 12-246,
Wellington, Ph 04 472 5759, fax 04 472 5050, email:
mmeatres@vsa.org.nz
More information about the
Javan Rhino and Cat Tien National Park can be found at:
www.blakup.demon.nl/cat_tien
For more
information about VSA visit our website: www.vsa.org.nz