- La Gamba
La Gamba is a small village in the
Puntarenas province in southwesternCosta Rica on the fringes of theEsquinas Rainforest . The village is inhabited by 70 families (~500 persons) who live in at-grade houses which in general possess two to three rooms. Besidesdrinking water andelectricity theinfrastructure offers two "Pulperias" (small shops), a publictelephone , aschool as well as two churches.The main sources of income for the residents (Cr.
ticos , ticas) areagriculture andanimal husbandry which is mainly used for subsistence. Besides these there are professions like smiths, carpenters, engineers, taxi drivers and more. A regular employment is out of the reason of an insecure economy rather uncommon than usual. One of the rare exceptions on this scale is the “Rainforest of the Austrians ” project, (ger. Regenwald der Österreicher) founded byMichael Schnitzler in 1991, which operates the Tropical Field Station La Gamba (ger. Tropenstation La Gamba) close to the village. In addition to the employment opprtunities for the residents this project has had a lasting effect on the range of nature conservation and protection of species which establish a kind of sensitization in the resident population in handling their environment.From July 2007 onwards the organization
Austrian Service Abroad (ger. Österreichischer Auslandsdienst) will send servants for their alternativecivilian service abroad to La Gamba.
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