Sustainable Bolivia supports local and international volunteers interested in making a lasting impact. We work hard to arrange a mutually beneficial volunteer experience.
Together with two rural communities, Pisatahua and Fundacion Amazonia, Sustainable Bolivia has helped to secure and protect the 20,000 hectares of the Aquicuana Reserve, located at 20km from Riberalta. Sustainable Bolivia intends to develop a community-based ecotourism project within the reserve allowing the communities to receive an additional income but also more opportunities for the children going out of school.
Pisatahua is an integrative plant-medicine retreat, located in the Aquicuana Reserve. Sustainable Bolivia is Pisatahua’s sister non-profit. Sustainable Bolivia also hosts Pisatahua volunteers in our communal home found in the city.
Sustainable Bolivia, in partnership with Pisatahua, is currently receiving applications for a Plant Medicine Inventory Project. Working with a local informant, the selected applicant will identify, photograph, and help write a guide to Aquicuana’s medicinal & edible plants.
Volunteers will work in between 20 and 30% of the time in the Aquicuana Reserve, which means they will also spend a lot of time in the office. They will need to coordinate the days they want to go to the Reserve, knowing that on-site work will be independant. They can always ask to members of the communities to come with them and show them where to find a specific plant.
The selected candidate will create informational material identifying the names, properties and traditional usages of plants and trees located in the Aquicuana Reserve. Following a well-maintained trail, he/she will create a user friendly map so that locals and guests can traverse the trail, while learning about Amazonian plant medicines.
The selected candidate will work alongside local healers and specialists to gain an understanding of the role of traditional healing practices, including primary plant species and their uses. They will work at the intersection of contemporary and traditional medicine as it is used, shared, implemented, and recounted in the Bolivian Amazon. This position provides the unique opportunity to gain an understanding of traditional plant-medicine practices, while helping to preserve the local knowledge of indigenous peoples.
In their free time, volunteers can enjoy a lot of activities around Riberalta such as enjoying the nature of the Amazon (tours, trekking) and the animals, enjoying the rivers (boat tours) or the swimming pools close-by. It is also very easy to go to Brazil where you there is a lot of amenities for shopping.
Accomodation in an Eco-lodge in the middle of the Amazon and view on the San José Lake in the Aquicuana Reserve
From the Riberalta airport
A cabin with a double bed and its own shower/toilet
This program is paused due to COVID-19
Native Plant Study
We are looking for a Plant Medicine Inventory Project. Working with a local informant, we will identify, photograph, and help write a guide to Aquicuana’s plants
$150/week
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