Volunteer Opportunities in Amazonian Conservation

ACA and ACCA are creative, hard-working, high-energy conservation groups and we welcome volunteers with the same qualities. Our volunteer positions are highly competitive and typically won by candidates with specialized skills, relevant experience, good language skills, a significant time commitment, and independent funding. Opportunities vary between our different sites and change frequently, so please read the descriptions below carefully. We do not currently consider applications for volunteer positions other than those described below.

At ACA’s Washington, DC, Office

The Amazon Conservation Association is seeking motivated volunteers to assist its DC staff in several projects. Duties may include: general office support, donor research, data entry, web updates, filing, editing, mailing, and event planning.

You will learn how we protect more than 400,000 acres of rainforest and how we work with local communities, and get a close look at our ongoing projects in research, conservation, sustainability and microenterprise initiatives. There is always something to do around here to keep you busy!

Also, please check Idealist.org for our latest internship openings and application instructions.

Candidates interested in volunteering for the DC office in other ways (website help, translation assistance, event planning - whatever your skills!) should send a CV and brief letter of interest including hours of availability and level of Spanish to.

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At Los Amigos Biological Station, Lowland Amazonian Forest, Madre de Dios, Peru

Assistant Administrator. The successful candidate will assist the Administrator with a variety of tasks including updating the visitor database, reviewing monthly occupancy data, helping to identify and monitor priority tasks for the Administrator, and attending weekly meetings. The volunteer will also assist the Science Director by coordinating the Science Saturdays environmental education program with the Boca Amigos community, writing news of the week updates for the CICRA Facebook page, and conducting the welcome and orientation for new scientists and their assistants. A time commitment of 3 months or more is desired for this position. With the commitment of a year the volunteer would have the opportunity to create his/her own project under the supervision of the Administrator. The fee for room and board for this position will depend on the level of commitment and duration of stay (please contact us for more information), but would be completely waived for a year-long committment. To apply please send a CV and application to volunteerlosamigos@amazonconservation.org.

For the positions below, the minimum time commitment is one month. Monthly cost to volunteer, covering room and board at the station, is $900. To apply for any of the following volunteer positions, please send a CV and the application (pdf) to

Specialist in low-impact technologies for rural communities. The successful candidate will design, improve, and/or implement strategies to reduce the ecological footprint of the Amazon’s most active research station. The job requires significant experience with photovoltaic systems, low-impact waste disposal systems, reduction of energy use and carbon emissions, solar water heaters and purifiers, and similar innovations.
Resident artist. The successful candidate will create artwork—paintings, photographs, writing, drawings, or other art—that helps document and publicize work at the Amazon’s most active research station. Learn about and see the work of past resident artists »

Carpenter. The successful candidate will help create a new environmental interprestation center at Los Amigos.
English teacher. The successful candidate will spend up to four hours per day teaching English to visiting researchers, students and staff at the Amazon’s most active research station.
Expert gardener/landscaper. The successful candidate will work alongside the station’s Spanish-speaking gardener on the 5-acre campus of the Amazon’s most active research station. One garden contains a living exhibit of more than 100 species of medicinal, edible and ornamental plants; another provides fruit and vegetables to the station kitchen.

Learn more about life at Los Amigos »

Read more about volunteer opportunities at Los Amigos on the TreeHugger blog and hear from a past volunteer from Princeton (see pages 4-6).

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At the Wayqecha Cloud Forest Biological Station, Cusco, Peru

The Amazon Conservation Association is seeking motivated and innovative volunteers to work at the Wayqecha Cloud Forest Biological Station in the cloud forest adjacent to Manu National Park in Peru. Volunteers work alongside Wayqecha staff monitoring wildlife, such as collecting information on bird communities, documenting orchids in bloom, monitoring forest succession, collecting weather data and recording animal tracks and markings. As well, volunteers work in identifying and collecting rare species of orchids to be included in our orchid garden. We are also interested in volunteers working in film-making, photography, art, and writing (contact us for special conditions). The first two weeks cost USD$800 ($400 per week) with each additional week costing $300. However, the price of extended stays, longer than 1 month, can be negotiated.

Volunteers are required to work 6 hour days at least 5 days a week and must be:

Over 18 years of age
In good physical condition
Able to commit to at least two weeks on site
Able to speak basic Spanish
Experienced in foreign travel

To apply for a volunteer position at Wayqecha, please fill out the following application (pdf) and send it with your CV to Ana Maria Chevarria at reservas@conservacionamazonica.org.

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At Villa Carmen, Lowland Amazonian Forest, Cusco and Madre de Dios, Peru

Volunteer opportunities at Villa Carmen include:

Wildlife photography. Help produce publishable photoguides of diverse and easy to sample animal groups: birds, frogs and reptiles, bats, fish, butterflies, beetles, moths, ants, and many others.
Wildlife monitoring. Use walking transects, footprint traps, photographs, and other evidence to sample vertebrates and create distribution maps of vertebrate sightings or other vertebrate evidence.
Gardening and sustainable agriculture. Help build a botanical garden of native Amazonian plants including orchids, bromeliads, ferns, palms, and others and/or plants useful to Indigenous Amazonian peoples. Assist in the development of an Amazonian native crop nursery.
Landscape exploration and cartography. Open, mark, and map trails and habitats trough uncharted territories of the reserve including forests, streams, and mountain ridges. Locate and map natural attractions such as giant trees, lookout points, waterfalls, stream pools, and others.

To apply for a volunteer position at Villa Carmen, please fill out the following application (pdf) and send it with your CV to Ana Maria Chevarria at reservas@conservacionamazonica.org. For further information on volunteering at Villa Carmen, please contact villavolunteercoordinator@gmail.com.

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Setting off. Photo: Raechel Running

Emperor tamarin at Los Amigos. Photo: Lindsay Lough