Work With Nature Conservation/National Parks Project in Ecuador

Project At A Glance Location: Nanegalito (North of Quito) Start Point: Quito End Point: Quito International Airport Duration: 2-12 Weeks Hours: 20-30 Hours per week Food: Local meals 3 times a day Room: Host family or hostel Date: First and Third Monday of each month

Project Summary

Ecuador is an intensely bio-diverse country steeped in natural beauty. Ecuador volunteers in conservation and national park projects participate in a numerous conservation/wildlife-related duties ranging from research to maintenance.

Assistance is greatly needed in efforts of preservation, investigation, environmental education and efficient management of Ecuador’s spectacular flora and fauna. IFRE collaborates with several private and public reserves as well as various national parks and NGOs throughout Ecuador who strive to preserve the country's remarkable ecosystems – on land AND sea! Conservation volunteer projects in Ecuador involve the following activities:

• reforestation
  
• agriforestry
  
• organic and sustainable farming practices
  
• permaculture
  
• tree nurseries
  
• biological research
  
• environmental education (with an emphasis on protection and conservation)
  
• recuperation and regeneration of the already-existing ecosystems

The spectacular ecosystems which volunteers can expect to work in include dry forests, cloud forests, rain forests and mangrove forests.

Skills/Qualifications Needed

Beginner to intermediate knowledge of Spanish is preferred, but not required. If you cannot speak Spanish, we suggest you enroll in our Spanish language course to make your stay more rewarding – both for you and for the children you are helping. No specific qualifications are needed to join the conservation or national park projects in Ecuador. Many of the projects are quite physical, so environmental and conservation volunteers need to be in good physical shape. Anoutgoing and entrepreneurial spirit is helpful, as is an ability to follow directions well. Flexibility, ability to work in forests (where there is not only nature and beauty, but also mosquitoes and insects) is required.

Volunteer Responsibilities

Job responsibilities of individuals joining as conservation volunteers in Ecuador vary. Activities may include building or maintaining trails, delivering environmental education to project staff members/local people, helping the existing staff members/environmental conservationists in ongoing projects, assisting with administrative actions supporting the projects, weeding, building fences etc.

Room/Food/Supervision

IFRE manages living accommodations and food in Ecuador. Our project volunteers stay with carefully selected host families. All volunteers receive three (3) meals a day. Prepared meals are typical of the Ecuadorian diet. Occasionally, if volunteers are away from their host families during lunch, they may be required to pack their own 'to go' lunches, with food the host family provides. Your host family is responsible for preparing three meals for you each day. If traditional Ecuadorian fare doesn’t appeal to you, you are welcome to buy your own food and prepare it yourself. The simple rule is to please not use the family’s food for your own use. If you have other needs for food outside of these meals, you are able to purchase snacks and meals at local restaurants and grocery stores. You will be sharing the house, kitchen and bathrooms with the family members. You will have the ability to do your laundry in the house or the host family may offer to do it for you.

Host family residences are simple and clean. Generally, our Ecuadorian host families are respected members of their communities and they live in well-off neighborhoods. Most of our host families are experienced with hosting international volunteers. Rooms may be shared with another same gender volunteer. Bathrooms are shared with the family. Toilets are ‘Western style’, yet often there is not always hot running water. Throughout the volunteer project, our local staff stays in contact with volunteers with either face-to-face visits or via email/telephone. With longer placements, we visit our volunteers every 2 weeks (when possible) and volunteers are always welcome at the local office. If project placement is local, we request that volunteers stop by the office once a week to keep us posted on how they are doing with their home stay and project. If project placement is very far, then our local staff members maintain communication by either email and/or phone.