Volunteering with the Amazon Conservation Association
Table of Contents
We know many of our readers read our blog to get travel tips, ideas on destinations and recommendations on products or services. However, as it’s our mission to get you travellers out there to consider volunteering when you are on the road. We have decided to start a regular blog series on some of the wonderful and amazing volunteering opportunities on globalhelpswap. We could not think of a better organisation or cause as our first featured entry: The Amazon Conservation Association.
What they do
The Amazon Conservation Association focuses on scientific research, the direct protection of critical habitats, the sustainable use of natural resources, and education. Our programs include:
Biological Stations and Reserves
Los Amigos Conservation Concession and Los Amigos Biological Station
Our 360,000-acre Los Amigos Conservation Concession protects the watershed of the Los Amigos River, a headwaters tributary of the Amazon. This mega diverse wilderness protects the eastern access of Manu National Park and connects it to the Tambopata protected region. Our biological station at Los Amigos provides a base camp for scientists and students exploring the watershed.
Wayqecha Cloud Forest Biological Station
The Wayqecha cloud forest site runs from above the Andean tree line down through cloud forest to montane rainforest, and acts as part of the buffer zone along Manu’s southern edge. As Peru’s only permanent research center focused on cloud forest ecology and management, we study conservation challenges and solutions in the mega diverse watershed bordering Manu.
Villa Carmen Biological Station and Reserve
ACA manages a 7,576‐acre property known as Villa Carmen, strategically located adjacent to Manu National Park and indigenous communities in the eastern Andes‐Amazon region of Peru. ACA is now in the process of transforming this property into a Center of Excellence in tropical conservation and sustainable agriculture, while promoting a conservation economy, linking poverty alleviation to biodiversity conservation.
Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods
The Manu – Tambopata Conservation Corridor
The Manu – Tambopata Conservation Corridor (MAT) is a 518,921 acre area of rainforest in one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world. ACA’s MAT initiative will protect jaguar, macaw, and peccary populations in this last unprotected stretch of the Vilcabamba – Amboro Mega Corridor. To do so we are developing a portfolio of innovative conservation tools that offer local communities environmentally sustainable economic opportunities that preserve the rainforest while making a profit for the local community.
Cloud Forest Programs: REDD Enterprise and Reforestation
The cloud forests of the southeastern Andes offer the best chance for a safe haven for thousands of species facing the impacts associated with rapid climate change. They also represent some of the most carbon-rich forests in the world. ACA is helping indigenous and traditional communities conserve their forests through reforestation of degraded areas with valuable agroforestry and timber species and helping them access markets for sustainable forest products through the creation of micro-enterprises, REDD projects, and ecotourism opportunities.
Brazil Nut Program
Brazil nuts are the most profitable non-timber forest product in the southwestern Amazon, providing income for local people and incentives for forest conservation. Brazil nut stands cover more than 10 million acres of Amazonian Peru and even larger areas in Bolivia and Brazil. Conserving this forest through Brazil nut concessions and Brazil nut harvesting in indigenous territories is a key element in maintaining the biological connections among protected areas. ACA has been studying Brazil nuts since 1997 and has been helping Brazil nut harvesters in Peru and Bolivia to obtain better prices for their nuts through improved management practices and organic and Fair Trade certifications.
Amazonian Savannas: Pampas del Heath, Bolivia
Located in northern Bolivia, the Pampas del Heath are the best-conserved savannas left in Amazonia. As islands of grass in a sea of forest, these savannas support a unique flora and fauna and provide shelter to rare mammals such asthe maned wolf and the marsh deer. In the Pampas, ACA is developing a research and conservation program that includes biological inventories, studies of fire ecology, studies of traditional indigenous use of the Pampas, and support for Bolivian protected areas.
Why they do it
Why focus on the Amazon? The Amazon rainforest is home to more than a third of the species found on Earth. It is also a vital force shaping the world’s weather and climate patterns. Moreover, 20% of all fresh water on Earth flows through the basin’s rivers, and these forests are the source of countless foods, fibers, and medicines that will one day benefit humankind. Unfortunately, these forests are facing increasing threats from road development, logging, and large-scale agriculture. ACA is working with local communities and partner organizations throughout the region to protect these precious forests for local inhabitants and future generations.
What you can do
globalhelpswap is proud to have The Amazon Conservation Association on our site. If you would like to volunteer with them and help them with their amazing work just click the link: Volunteer with the Amazon Conservation Association to see if they have spaces available.
If you could save the greatest rainforest on earth, would you?
Please pass on this blog and our website to everyone you know. The more we help one another the more the world becomes a warmer place.
Have a great day.
Peace & Love
Paul
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