Wildlife monitoring and environmental education
We are a team of biologists working alongside a local Bribri family to study and monitor the wildlife and ecology of the Kéköldi Indigenous Reserve. As a registered association in Costa Rica (non-profit NGO), we are committed to long-term ecological research, local community sustainability, and training the next generation of conservationists.
6,767.7 ha
Kéköldi Indigenous Reserve
Since the 90s
Local Monitoring Base
The only
LONG-TERM RESEARCH CENTER IN THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN
100% Local
Non-Profit
Who we are
KREA continues the research and conservation work that has been carried out in Kéköldi for more than a decade, now independently and in direct partnership with the Indigenous family that looks after the land.
There is no international corporate structure. The board is the same local team, with real names and faces, making the decisions on the ground.
Biodiversity monitoring in action
Wildlife surveys
Regular, standardized transects through primary and secondary forest to record mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
Bird point counts
Recording resident birds and the millions of migratory raptors that cross the reserve twice a year.
Camera traps
Tracking elusive, little-studied species such as the ocelot, the margay and even the puma.
Where does your contribution go?
No corporate office abroad; 80% of our staff work in the field.
FIELD STAFF
LOCAL PARTNERS
ADMINISTRATION
OPERATING COSTS
55%
20%
10%
15%
Everything participants pay is reinvested in the project: the association does not distribute surpluses (Law No. 218).
Boost your career or try something new
Volunteering
(2–12 weeks · from $700 for 2 weeks)
- Take part in wildlife surveys
- Live in the Costa Rican rainforest
- Workshops and basic ecology training
- No previous experience needed
Internship
(4–12 weeks · from $1,680 for 1 month)
- Sampling techniques and species identification
- Ecology principles and a structured academic plan
- Independent research project with mentoring
- KREA certificate on completion
Kéköldi Indigenous Reserve
A semi-autonomous territory of the Bribri and Cabécar peoples in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica's South Caribbean. Its 6,767.7 hectares include primary and secondary forest, "edible forest" and farmland. It is one of the most reptile- and amphibian-diverse places in the world, lies on the route of millions of migratory raptors and is home to three monkey species, including the endangered Central American spider monkey.