Giving a Voice to the Rainforest

We warmly invite you to join us at the Iracambi Rainforest Research Center in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, where you'll be able to follow environmental conservancy practices at Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest. Together local students, schoolkids, community members, international students and volunteers: together we're Saving Forests and Changing Lives and we'd love you to be part of it! Registering as much as possible all this incredible actions and efforts done by different people, from different pat of the world. 

Here at Iracambi we’ve been Saving Forests and Changing Lives for over twenty years! During that time, we’ve planted over 140, 000 native forest trees, founded the first program of environmental education in the region, set up the first web-based GIS, created thousands of acres of protected areas, hosted 2000 international students and volunteers from 70 countries, and impacted the lives of thousands of people in the Serra do Brigadeiro mountains. 

So what does Iracambi do? We're working with local farmers whereby together we plant native and productive tree species in order to increase farm incomes, restore degraded soils, protect water sources and increase habitat for biodiversity. This involves a host of different practical tasks, starting with everyone's favorite place on campus: the forest nursery. Creating and maintaining a healthy supply of young trees requires a lot of work - collecting seeds in the forest, preparing and caring for young seedlings, planting them out at the right time of year, and monitoring and recording our progress. 

Do you remember that we're talking about changing lives? Here's where we work with local farmers, school kids, volunteers and visitors, hosting visits, running workshops and outreach programs designed to raise awareness of the important issues of how to live sustainably, and how to encourage more and more people to join us in the exciting task of protecting one of the most important forests in the world. 

So we always need good visual content that tells the story of the forest, its inhabitants, challenges and achievements!

We invite you to participate in and record our ongoing projects and encourage you to take responsibility for your own work, experience, lifestyle, and for your fellow Iracambistas. If you have a brilliant idea for something we could or ought to do, let’s see if we can do it! 

The Research Center is located on a working farm, which includes a large area of native forest as well as tree crops. There are rivers, mountains, forest trails and a welcoming local community and its traditional practices. 

Studying, interning, volunteering or visiting Iracambi provides you with a fantastic opportunity to be part of a lifestyle that is likely very different from what you are used to. You will be sharing the campus space with people of different nationalities, backgrounds, skills, ages and interests - not to mention a few bugs! 

The Research Center is located on a working farm, located 12 km (dirty road) from the city Rosário da Limeira. So despite you won’t have the bright lights of a big city you will have the chance to work and live in a large area of native forest. 

Each day will likely be different! The rainforest is not a cookie cutter experience. 

The activities list is endless! Better of all make friends for life as you all together work in the nursery, maintain the forest trails, visit local farms at tree planting times, and get involved in school kids group experiences or teaching English, forest monitoring, construction projects, graphic design, photography, video making, help with marketing and fundraising  or explore free time weekend at the forest, swim in rivers, climb mountains, hike in trails and experience a welcoming local community! 

If it's raining you'll be inside, writing up a research, editing pictures, organizing intern spaces or even enjoying a quick siesta at a hammock! 

We invite you to participate in our ongoing projects and encourage you to take responsibility for your own work, experience, lifestyle, and for your fellow Iracambistas. 

Besides, if you have your own study project or particular passion, that’s great, and we’ll give you the space and support that you need for that too. If you have a brilliant idea for something we could or ought to do, let’s see if we can do it! 

You’ll be living on our rainforest campus, and eating delicious local food cooked by Larissa – who is more than happy to supply vegetarian or vegan options on request. The Research Center has one central dorm, five four-bed cabins, a Medicinal Plant lab, a nursery, an office/classroom, a visitor center (Forest House), a system of forest trails, and the forest with mountains, rivers, creeks and waterfalls around us .

We have 24-hour access to the internet – except during thunderstorms, when we power down in order to protect the equipment! 

You may be lucky enough to spot one, particularly if you hang out with locals or even the staff members who live around the mountain! 

On weekends you can swim in the rivers, hike in the forest, climb local mountains – no rock climbing involved and you will be rewarded by amazing views. You can interact with the local community and attend local parties and festivals, particularly in June and July during the winter festivals. You can also organize dinners, bonfires, barbecues or social events to be enjoyed with a glass of wine, a beer or a caipirinha!

Could be getting up in the dark to climb a mountain and film the sun rising over the misty valleys.

At the weekends, our staff will be more than happy to help you plan trips to explore the surrounding areas. Weekend excursions might include quad biking around local communities, kayaking on the rivers, trail to a pic and getting a taste of local farm life.

Visiting Serra do Brigadeiro State Park is an excellent option for the weekend activities. You can explore the park trails and waterfalls in the middle of Minas Gerais mountains with a very traditional and cultural local community.  

On three day weekends you could visit Brazil’s famous historic towns Ouro Preto and Mariana, or Caraça Sanctuary - where you can stay in a former monastery and meet the local wildlife - or sun yourself on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro state. You could even attempt to climb the 2892 meters (9486 foot) Pico da Bandeira (the third highest Brazil’s  mountain which is in a National Park area).  

We have lots of wild animals living all around, even big ones like the puma. (But we should warn you, they are mostly nocturnal.) We are an official release center for captive species and occasionally the forest police appear with animals and birds to be released after acclimatizing. 

And if you’re up for gentler pastimes, where better to hang out in a hammock and read a book, or find a quiet spot to practice yoga or meditation.