FreeWildlifeBrazil Celine (Animal Release Center) has partnered with IPBio (Biodiversity Research Institute), an NGO that also works on the Betary Reserve with whom we cooperate closely, to develop a joint volunteer program.
The Eco-Volunteer
role is a joint role between IPBio and Celine 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: we study the biodiversity in
different areas of the reserve to assess forest well-being. In the process
we can understand the distribution of fruit tree species which is
particularly important for Celine. Why? Imagine you are releasing a parrot
which only eats a certain fruit and it only grows between June and July.
Therefore you should only release this parrot during these months to
ensure it has available food which will increase the chances of a
successful release. Moreover, these birds are tagged and monitored after
their reintroduction to the wild to ensure they are adapting well and
therefore identifying fruit trees in the area will increase the likelihood
of finding the bird to monitor their progress.
- Garden Day: as a group we help out in the gardening,
construction or maintenance of the reserves grounds. This is hard but
rewarding work!
- Mushroom Inventory: we search for new species of
mushrooms in order to identify them, photograph them and collect their
spore prints which are like a mushrooms finger print. In addition, we do
searches at night to find bioluminescent mushrooms which light up the
floor in an avatar-like fashion.
- Tadpole Research: we have various projects related
to tadpoles and often we need the help of volunteers to collect these
tadpoles.
- Bird Inventory: explore the forest strategically in
order to inventory species of birds on the reserve as well as understand
their distribution patterns and their seasonality.
- Mammal Monitoring via Cameratraps: we have cameras
filming 24/7 in the forest but all his data needs to be sorted. Volunteers
are tasked with watching the footage, organizing the photos of mammals and
identifying the species.
- Fish Inventory: many birds are aquatic and live
on the banks of rivers waiting to scoop up a fish. We study the
biodiversity of fish in order to support the birds Celine releases and
sometimes we need to bring them back a tasty snack.
As you can imagine, in the rainforest it rains quite a lot. If
every time it rained we stopped working we would never get any work done so
often we need to keep going. However, sometimes it is too much, so when this
happens volunteers sit in the comfort of the reserve and help us in other areas
such as:
- Literature Research: Conduct online research to help
us improve or set up new projects.
- Communications: Support us in expanding our network
via social media or find university contacts so we can develop
partnerships.
- Creative Projects: Such as creating beautiful
birdhouses or art for the volunteer house.
