Volunteer: Climate Change Mitigation, Agroforestry, and Forest Conservation in Ecuador

Duration: Minimum 1 month (flexible for min. 2 weeks depending on intern s qualifications), Maximum 1 year

Start Dates: Project is ongoing, and you can join at any time, depending upon availability

Cost: $450 USD for the 1st week + $250 for each additional week (2 month minimum is recommended)

Fee Includes: all food, accommodation, pre-departure + in-country support, orientation and all project related activities

Does not Include: flights, airport pickup, travel insurance, personal spending, visas and vaccinations

Please note: This opportunity is designed to give you the contacts and experience to help further your career. You are not replacing any member of staff, but helping alongside them, whilst learning new skills.

Benefits

• Work closely with NGO staff, farmers, and local agronomists experienced in forest conservation, agroforestry, agronomy, participatory community development, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable farming.
• Learn about international efforts to mitigate climate change and be a part of implementing long-term research and solutions alongside local community farmers
• Learn about Amazonian cultures and their connection to organic agriculture, ethnobotany, agroforestry, and plant medicine
• Live in a beautiful, rural community with an indigenous host family in the Amazon rainforest
• Keywords: field research, sustainable development, climate change, international development agriculture, forest conservation, community tourism, cacao industry, seed banks, indigenous rights, economic development, sustainable development, indigenous traditions.

The Amazon rainforest is home to the most biodiverse ecosystem in the world, teeming with millions of species of trees, plants, insects and animals. For thousands of years, Amazonian indigenous peoples have been connected to all of this life in the rainforest and living off their naturally organic chakras, or traditionally planted agroforestry farms.

This project will give you the opportunity to collaborate with both an international NGO working to solve big issues of climate change and community development, as well as assisting your host family on their traditional farm.

You will become part of an Ecuadorian family and community, dive deep into language and cultural immersion (Spanish and Kichwa!), all while learning about the importance of valuing traditional seeds and farming techniques for mitigating climate change. In addition, you will experience life in the Amazon rainforest through unique activities such as weaving baskets out of freshly harvested palms, carving spears and statues from local woods, swimming in waterfalls, making chocolate from fresh-picked cacao, and trekking in the virgin rainforest. Your placement will include staff check-ins and 24/7 on-ground emergency support.

At the start of your program, you will have a 3-day orientation in the city of Tena which is about 4 hours east of Quito, Ecuador s capital city. During orientation workshops, you will start learning about the culture, people, and geography of the region as well as other tools to support you in your project abroad. Here you will also be connecting with other interns that are going to be leaping into a similar experience.

After orientation, you will move in with a local host family in a community outside of Archidona. You will participate in their daily lives and be a part of family rituals, like waking up at 6am to make guayusa tea with your host grandmother and interpret your dreams. You will also spend time together harvesting, cleaning, and planting in their chakra (traditionally planted agroforestry farm).

Beyond assisting your family on their farm and selling their products, you will collaborate with research and projects for an NGO working to prevent the chakras (as well as the Kichwa culture and livelihoods) from being at risk to increased flooding, intense droughts, soil erosion, and other predicted climate change impacts.

Potential Daily Activities May Include

• Work on a research project that is analyzing changes in the chakra system associated with production of cacao and other local products
• Participate in activities in your community, dubbed The Village of Cacao and Chocolate by a network of NGOs supporting development and community tourism in the region
• Collect environmental data about species composition in farms and chakras
• Interview locals regarding their ancestral knowledge about selecting, saving, and planting seeds with the goal of identifying practices that help crops withstand dramatic environmental conditions
• Attend community meetings and workshops related to development
• Hike through farms and in the rainforest to do seed collecting and farming
• Complete your own research relating to climate change mitigation with the support of experienced staff
• Conduct language tutoring and exchanges with kids and community members [English, Spanish, Kichwa]

Your main projects can be complemented by personal research opportunities. If you are interested in conducting research, we can support you and connect you to our network of communities, local experts, and others to help you create your independent project.

Please note: all information above is subject to change. Please check the most up to date information on the Global Nomadic website when applying.