Help saving the Amazon Rainforest at a Biological Research Station!

General Info

The Amazon Biological Station is located at a thin strip of the Tropical Wet Forest connecting the Andes Mountain Range and the Amazon River Basin labeled as one of the most biological diverse areas, and an Alpha Biodiversity Hot Spot. The Biological Station, created in 1986, is a center for field research and education in the tropical rainforest region of the upper Napo River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The station includes a reserve of 2,000 hectares, of which 70% is primarily forest and the remainder is secondary growth. The activities in which volunteers will be involved are the following: compost and botanical gardens maintenance, seed collection, soil preparation, tree nursery maintenance, data collection (precipitation, temperature, agro forestry experiments etc.), construction of trails, vegetable garden upkeep and more.

Volunteer Role: (Volunteer will work at the following activities:
* Work at the Amazon Plants Conservation Center.
* Work at the Organic Farm.
* Data Collection
* Collection of seedlings and seeds for the nursery or the farm.
* Go to the farms of families in the local communities to help with organic methods of agriculture.
* Work on miscellaneous projects that arise: reforestation projects either at the station, communities or independent farms
* Trail maintenance and new trails construction
* Soil preperation
* Cocao harvesting, drying, and chocolate processing
* And more!

Location: The Biological Station is located on the southern bank of the Upper Napo River, at an altitude of 450m above sea level, at 1o 04' S, 77o 36' W, in the Napo Province. The life zone protected by the reserve is the Tropical Wet Forest according to the Holdridge system. The average yearly temperature is 25C, it rains close to 5,000mm per year, on an average of 200 rainy days. The lowest rainfall is during the months of November through January and the highest occurs during April through July. You can expect June to be the wettest month of the year. The closest city to the project is Tena. It located approximately an hour away by bus.

Accommodations and Meals: There are two groups of cabins. The first group can accommodate up to 24 visitors at a time, in 4 cabins, 3 bunk beds in each. In this section there is a laboratory with some equipment, microscopes, a computer, videos and nature films. All are available for the volunteers. The second group of cabins where the volunteers are lodged has space for 15 volunteers, in 3 cabins with 2 rooms each. The dining room can fee 50 visitors and is the place where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served.