Volunteer at Iracambi

To change lives and save the forest

Iracambi welcomes volunteers from across the world to help us in our project of saving forests and changing lives. We've been working in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil for the past ten years and we're making a difference. Come join us - it might even change your life!

At Iracambi there's a wide range of things that need doing, if you're committed, as we are, to working with local communities to ensure a sustainable future while caring for our extraordinary forest.

First off you'll be involved in our brand new program Citizen Scientists at Iracambi.

When you're not collecting data, storing it and sharing it with the international and local community, you'll be:

• Collecting seeds, making seedlings, planting and caring for young trees, mentoring schoolkids as part of our Junior Scientists program and using any of your special skills such as.
• IT, database and information management, data collection for our GIS, design and production of educational and PR materials, plant photography to expand our virtual herbarium.

Got a better idea? Make us an offer - we're listening!

Come for one month, come for three, come find out for yourself what it's really like on the front line of conservation and development.

How to apply

We believe in keeping things as simple as possible, so if you are interested in applying to volunteer on this project, you need to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  with an up-to-date copy of your CV/Resume and fill in this form to help us see how we can best your skills.

Our application process is:

Stage 1 - Initial contact where talk about what you will be doing while you are here. The more information you can provide the more easy it is for us to fit you into the right slot.

Stage 2 - Once this has been clarified we'll send you the information you need and ask you to check our terms and conditions.

Stage 3 - Shortly before you come, we'll send our pre-departure information pack.

We hope to hear from you soon...

What you'll do and who to talk to 

Iracambi staff are always available to deal with questions and queries that you may have. The Volunteer Coordinator oversees the work the volunteers are doing, and deals with logistics. This is your point person from your first contact throughout your stay. This is also the person to talk to you if you have any problems, suggestions, and compliments to pay.

Want to know a little more about volunteer jobs? Let's start with forest patrols. The Iracambi forest trails provide us with access to the forests for work and play. These trails need maintenance and improvement, so that they can continue to provide us with access to the trees for seed collection and monitoring forest growth, as well as to the camera traps to check on our night visitors. The nursery manager always needs help with the forest seedlings, and during the rainy season there's no shortage of trees to be planted - around springs, on unprotected slopes, or in our agroforestry plots where we interplant native species trees with agricultural crops such as coffee, bananas, corn or beans. The special skills category includes working with our GIS coordinator to collect data and ground truth coordinates on the map (making sure that what's on the map coincides with what's on the ground,) or one-off projects such as photographing plants for our virtual herbarium, designing and producing educational material as required for specific campaigns in the community, or producing shows for our community radio.

What does it cost? (not all the best things in life are free!)

Working Environment

Iracambi is a self sufficient environment, which will be challenging, exciting, occasionally frustrating and generally extremely rewarding. You'll be living and working in an isolated community and you'll soon discover that everyone relies on everyone else. Most people make friends for life!

The working week

Volunteers and researchers work from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, with an hour for lunch - weekends are free.

The volunteer program has been designed so as to ensure you get the most out of your time here and consists of the following stages:

• Orientation
  Presentation and Introduction to Iracambi.
• Individual Meeting
  This will be held with the Volunteer Coordinator to tell you how things work.
• My Brief
  You'll fill in a form to clarify how you will spend your time and what key tasks and targets you will try to meet.
• Update/Feedback
  You will be given the opportunity to discuss your work at the weekly volunteer meeting, which allows people to exchange news, views and suggestions.
• My Summary
  Towards the end of your stay you will be asked to fill in the second half of your brief, this information will help to inform your ‘Exit Evaluation’.
• Exit Evaluation
  You'll have an informal interview with the Volunteer Coordinator to tell us about your experience in Iracambi and hear about any suggestions you may have.
• Before you Leave
  Please fill out our checklist so we know where you have left your files, and can ensure that you have turned in amy equipment you have been using.
• Just Because
  If at any point during your time with us you need to speak to someone, whether on a personal or work related matter, the Volunteer Coordinator's door is always open and the matter will be treated confidentially.

If you need any information, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , call us on Skype, (iracambi) or consult our Life at Iracambi page.