Mammal Monitoring (Eco-Supporter)

Role

We have various cameras which are installed in the forest and are on 24/7, so all this data needs to be sorted. This information is crucial to understand the natural competition animals will face and will help the Animal Release Center to decide where to release the animals.

The mammal inventory is part of a larger role named the "Eco-Volunteer" role which contains a range of activities which are conducted in a group. The majority of these tasks are field activities so this is for volunteers who like to be outside and enjoy physical activity. Not all these projects occur at the same time as various projects are seasonal. Tasks of an eco-volunteer are not limited to the roles below but we have listed the main areas that the eco-volunteer will participate in: Tree Inventory, Gardening/Reserve Maintenance; Mushroom Inventory; Tadpole Research; Bird Inventory; Mammal Monitoring using Cameratraps; Fish Inventory; Literature Research; Communications Support; Creative/Arts & Crafts projects and much more.

Life at IPBio 

During the weekend volunteers can visit the National Parks to explore the caves, hike into the dense forest surrounding them or visit the waterfalls. Wildlife watching is a common free-time activity and at the center we have our own greenhouse with frogs and native fish aquarium. At the reserve we have a deck where you can swim as well as use tubes (big circular water balloons) to drift down the river along with the current volunteers. You can also organize dinners, movie nights, or social events.

Location

The Atlantic Forest stretches from the northeastern to the southern regions of Brazil and northern Argentina and southeastern Paraguay. Five hundred years ago, the Atlantic Forest of Brazil covered approximately 330 million acres, but today only 7% remains. In the Ribeira Valley, our region of the Atlantic Forest, we are at the footsteps of 21% of the 7% that is left, it being largest contiguous section of the Atlantic Forest. Despite the forests diminished state it still ranks as a global conservation priority. Although it is now just a small fraction of the size of the Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic Forest still harbors a range of biological diversity similar to that of the Amazon. The Atlantic Forest harbors around 2,200 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians – 5% of the vertebrates on Earth. This includes nearly 200 bird species found nowhere else. The Betary Reserve is located next to one of the most famous Brazilian State Parks named PETAR. The region is called the Cave Capital as it known for containing over 300 spectacular caves, some which are accessible to tourists.  

A typical day is starting at 9am and heading into the forest to conduct the tree inventort which requires measuring, photographing and attempting to identify species of trees. At noon you will come back to make some lunch and have an hour break. After lunch we would go and collect the SD card from the cameratraps and return to the center. We would all sit down at the center with laptops and divide the footage up between the group. We will sort the footage by group (mammal, birds, extra etc.) and then attempt to identify the species and rename the files accordingly.

- Caves: Iporanga is called “The Cave Capital of Brazil” with over 400 caves in the town. Below are just the highlights.

•Casa da Pedra is the world’s largest cave entrance of 215 meters. The trip involves a 2-hour hike to the opening where there is a place to sit down and have a picnic and swim and then a hike back.

•Temimina Cave has a large opening in the ceiling illuminating its oddly shaped diagonal garden. Then you enter into a dark cave where at the end you find a natural shower hole.

•Nucleo Santana is a group of caves and is the most commonly visited as it has a wide range of different types of caves. In some caves you can swim.

- Tubing/Boia Cross: is a sport where by you get on a big balloon and float down the river. There are various waterways you can do in Iporanga, some more radical and some in the big river which is very relaxing and can last 3 hours.

- Cananeia: has various islands with dolphins swimming in between which are very easy to visualize. It is also known for its stunning beaches, awesome boat tours, great restaurants and the mangrove reserve where there are many crabs.

- Waterfalls: Iporanga has many waterfalls. “Sem Fim” is a small waterfall walking distance from the reserve. “Vale das Ostras” has 12 large waterfalls in a row.

- Quilombos: during the era of slavery many slaves would run away from the plantations and create settlements hidden in the forest. These communities live in relative isolation and you can visit their small towns. For some of the Quilombos the tours include travelling their by boat and having a traditional lunch at one of the families homes.

- Social Events:

•Dinners: there are many nice restaurants were volunteers can have dinner, some more classy like Casarao and some with traditional Brazilian food. There is also a great fish restaurant. Often volunteer will eat out on the weekends.

•Town Parties: the are a couple of bars in town, some have pool tables and some have dancing areas. On holidays, there are usually town festivals on the streets.