Restoring Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest

We warmly invite you to join us at the Iracambi Rainforest Center in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, where you'll gain firsthand experience in reforestation, medicinal plants, community outreach and environmental educational.

For over twenty years 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.  

Iracambi alumni (we call them Iracambistas) can be found across the world and all manner of activities directed at making the world a better place. Whether you spend a week with us or six months, you will leave us enriched, and you will enrich your surroundings wherever they may be.

Together, volunteers, students, supporters and communities, we are willing to plant trees and create a new scenario for the Atlantic Forest biome in Brazil. We're Saving Forests and Changing Lives and we'd love you to be part of it!

The Forest For Water Program helps 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.  

Iracambi is in charge of preparing and caring for the seedlings, for planting activities and monitoring the planted trees. The help of volunteers is essential in all the different stages and practices involved in this process, starting with the favorite place on our campus: the nursery. Creating and maintaining healthy seedlings requires a lot of work: from collecting seeds to caring for the seedlings, ensuring they are healthy for planting.

The seedlings are planted on a specific time of the year, with the beginning of summer rains, which increases the chances of their survival. 

Planting trees requires visiting farmers at different times of this process (before, during and after planting) to choose the area for planting, prepare the soil and to maintain the trees during a two years period. This way we offer guidance to achieve the best results!

By volunteering you gain experience in reforestation, plant biodiversity, getting to know properties, rural producers and their way of life, knowing and applying techniques for collecting, identifying seeds and plants, planting and monitoring, and many more!

That's all about saving forests - so what 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. 

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! 

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, organising intern spaces or even enjoying a quick siesta at a hammock! 

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! 

At certain times of year, you can be involved in harvesting coffee, process a local version of the superfruit acai jussara, as well join a task force at an agroforestry or bioconstruction experience.

Despite that we are currently involved at Workshops (bioconstruction, medicinal plants and yoga) that can be happening along your time here!

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! 

Our staff will be more than happy to help you plan weekends trips to explore the surrounding areas. Weekend excursions might include quad biking round local communities, kayaking on the rivers, horseback riding and getting a taste of local farm life. 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 9000 foot Pico da Bandeira (once considered to be Brazil’s highest mountain before another was discovered in the Amazon!) We don't have a zoo in Iracambi, but that's just because we don't need one. 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?