Environmental Volunteer Opportunities

Environmental conservation abroad

Global warming, water shortages, heat waves, tsunamis and floods. With all kinds of natural disasters take place around the world, we can’t deny that it’s time to taking responsibility. Are you also worried about the planet and tired of waiting around for things to change? With over 130 projects, there are endless environmental volunteer opportunities. Contribute your valuable time to a project dedicated to environmental conservation and help protect our precious planet.

Whether you’re interested in green agriculture and rainforest conservation or supporting sustainable sources, organizations worldwide are investing time and effort into various environmental protection projects. Volunteers are always needed to help with the different initiatives to protect the environment. Students can even do an environmental internship abroad if they get permission from their school.

Keep reading to find out more about the different environmental volunteer opportunities and how YOU can make a change to keep our earth green! The world is counting on your help.

🌳 Why Volunteer for the Environment?

The past years have been tainted by an endless report of natural disasters occurring in geographically vulnerable locations. Floods are affecting places that previously never faced this problem while heat waves, droughts and earthquakes are becoming the norm. Important wildlife and plant species are disappearing and threatening the planet’s biodiversity.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the biggest threats our earth is currently facing are:

• Deforestation
• Effects of Climate Change
• Pollution
• Soil Erosion and Degradation
• Water Scarcity
• Illegal Fishing & Wildlife Trade
• Oil and Gas Development
• Infrastructure destroying nature
• Overfishing & Bycatch

All these threats are man-made. The ongoing industrialization and the lack of awareness are taking its toll and it’s time for that to change. Most people feel powerless against the situation and remain inactive, believing small changes won’t make a difference. However, there are many ways to help. Small changes implemented by many people do make a difference.

Excellent examples of this are organizations that believe small initiatives make a significant impact. These projects are growing steadily and positively affecting the environmental conservation and influencing the local community. They are creating awareness amongst others and helping them understand the importance of environmental conservation whilst creating volunteer opportunities to help the environment.

Environmental conservation will learn valuable skills about environmental conservation but most importantly, they are moving towards change. There are enough environmental volunteer opportunities that need your help and there’s no time to waste! Continue reading about environmental volunteer programs abroad and take steps toward environmental conservation.

📋 What Will I Do as an Environmental Conservation Volunteer?

There are plenty of options once you decide to become an environmental volunteer. The tasks will depend on the project you have decided to volunteer with and can vary greatly. With over 130 projects focused on the environment, you’ll find projects that match both your skill set and travel preference. These are some of the main categories you can volunteer for:

• Sustainable agriculture projects
• Marine conservation
• Nature Conservation
• Renewable Energy programs
• Reforestation projects

Students looking to combine volunteer work with international work experience have come to the right place. Do an environmental internship for a non-profit organization abroad and also earn university credits. An internship is a valuable opportunity to gain practical experience that can improve your chances for future job opportunities while volunteering for environmental projects.

Let’s take a look at some of the different programs and what you will do if you join one of the environmental projects:

👩🏽‍🌾 How to Volunteer for Sustainable Agriculture

If you decide to volunteer for a sustainable agriculture project, you’ll definitely learn some interesting sustainable farming techniques. You will be learning these techniques from locals or teaching them to the local farmers so they can implement these techniques on their own.

Most projects are heavily focused on gaining an insight into sustainable agriculture and in some cases, the project will be built around a completely self-sufficient environment. This is an excellent opportunity to learn sustainable farming techniques you can apply in your own life. As a volunteer, you will be helping out with tasks such as:

• organic gardening
• farming practices like plowing
• environmentally friendly construction/green design projects
• preparing local foods

🐳 How to Volunteer for Marine Conservation

Volunteers for marine conservation will naturally be attracted to water. It’s important that you don’t fear diving and have a strong interest in learning to dive during your stay. While volunteering for marine conservation, your task as a volunteer will be to help research, maintain and grow the unique marine biology. You will learn a lot about different wildlife species and can expect to spend time on activities such as:

• Participating in scientific scuba dives
• Taking care of underwater nurseries and participating in replanting efforts
• Taking surveys
• Helping clean reefs and beaches of plastic garbage
• Maintenance tasks

🌲 How to Volunteer for Nature Conservation

Conservation projects are dedicated to protecting the natural environment of a specific location. Tasks here may vary greatly depending on the program but it will require volunteers to study the environment and learn about the local wildlife species. You’ll be monitoring the environment and retrieving data while taking action to preserve the local species of fauna of flora. Some tasks you will be doing during your time there:

• Data entry
• Marking tracks
• Monitoring bait stations
• Setting camera traps
• Monitoring species
• Seed collection
• Weed control
• Reforestation

⚡ How to Volunteer for Renewable Energy and Water

Projects focused on energy and water create ways for communities to access sustainable energy and water sources. These programs are dedicated to designing system improvements and creating a sustainable supply of energy and water. It’s important for conservation volunteers to evaluate the needs of the community and implement actions to solve these issues. Possible tasks conservation volunteers will engage in during their environmental volunteer programs are:

• Designing and implementing energy systems
• Obtaining energy-usage data
• Calculating and producing CO2 emissions reductions reports from the use of clean energy
• Designing and implementing add-ons or improvements to the existing system
• Researching into, scoping, designing and implementing a mixed system so as to diversify the dependency on different renewable energy sources

🧐 Who Can Volunteer for Environmental Conservation?

With so many subcategories and such a wide array of organizations, the required skill set will vary for each program. Some projects may require volunteers with certain experience but overall, most projects simply look for volunteers with a positive attitude and an eagerness to contribute their time to protecting the environment. Certain personality traits that would be great to have during environmental volunteering abroad are:

• a social mindset
• good communication skills
• the ability to work as part of a team
• adaptability
• problem-solving ability
• enthusiasm
• resilience
• a non-judgmental approach and respect for diversity
• a professional attitude to work
• a strong regard for health and safety
• eagerness to travel

Eco volunteering is the perfect opportunity for geography students looking for an internship. Participating in an international volunteer project will give you insight into how a non-profit organization works. It will also bring you in touch with the practical side of things. You will learn things you will never read about in your study books.

What Language Skills are Required to Volunteer for Environmental Conservation?

English is the main language on all projects so it’s important that conservation volunteers have a good understanding of English. This will allow you to communicate with the staff at the project center and other volunteers at work. For projects in South America, you will find it helpful to have a basic knowledge of Spanish prior to going as most locals don’t speak any English. Knowing some Spanish words will definitely help kickstart your volunteer adventure and save you valuable time.

🌎 Best Places to Volunteer for the Environment

Opportunities to help the environment are endless and will bring you to the most diverse locations around the world. We’ve listed the best places to volunteer per category:

🌾 Best Places to Volunteer for Agriculture

Volunteers who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and are eager to give farming a go will find their perfect program in Central or South America where they can dedicate their time. If your preference goes out to Africa, there are also several agriculture and farming projects waiting for conservation volunteers to help lessen the load.

Agricultural projects in Asia are mainly based in India, Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines. These are all beautiful locations which you will have time to explore during your volunteer experience!

🐚 Best Places to Volunteer for Marine Conservation

Volunteers who believe it’s time to help with conserving marine life can contribute in areas like Central and South America. Places like the Bahamas, Cuba and Peru are just a click away, as are South Africa, Mozambique and Madagascar. This is an excellent opportunity to combine beach travel with meaningful conservation work!

If you prefer Asia, marine life conservation opportunities will take you to Indonesia, Cambodia or the exquisite islands of the Philippines. Fiji is also an option for those dreaming of holiday brochure palm trees on white sandy beaches.

European volunteers who want to keep it closer to home can find the perfect program in destinations like Portugal, Spain and Italy where there’s also a need for marine life conservation work. Last but not least, when we think of coral reefs, the list wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t mention Australia. Gather your things and help save the largest coral reef in the world.

🌱 Best Places to Volunteer for Nature Conservation

Environmental conservation projects are extremely common in rainforest areas like South America where there are various environmental volunteer opportunities to help with various tasks related to the conservation of this green lung. Conservation volunteers can also head to biodiverse destinations like South Africa and Madagascar where they are in need of helping hands or opt for green Asian islands like Indonesia and the Maldives.

Volunteers eager to see the untouched green nature of the land of the lord of the rings in real time can head to New Zealand while conservation volunteers keen to get off the beaten track can head to the Baikal Lake in Russia and get their hands dirty in a destination which has still been spared of mass tourism.

💡 Best Place to Volunteer For Renewable Energy

Projects in energy and water are few but definitely equally important. Volunteers who want to contribute and enable sustainable sources of energy and water can make a difference in countries like Peru, Costa Rica and El Salvador or Cameroon and India. Enough opportunities to combine a wonderful cause with an excellent location!

That’s right, so many environmental volunteer opportunities to choose from and so many ways to volunteer your time! Go ahead and take a closer look at the various options available to volunteer for the environment!

Africa

• Egypt
• Ghana
• Kenya
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Rwanda
• Seychelles
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Uganda
• Zambia

Americas

• Argentina
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru

Asia

• Cambodia
• India
• Indonesia
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Nepal
• Philippines
• Thailand
• Turkey

Europe

• Croatia
• Greece
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Portugal
• Romania
• Spain
• United Kingdom

Oceania

• Australia
• Fiji
• New Zealand

🎁 5 Benefits of Volunteering for the Environment

There are many ways to contribute your time to environmental volunteer work. This in itself is wonderful but let’s take a look at what volunteering could mean for you. Here are five benefits of volunteering your time to a environmental protection projects:

1. Happiness

Most people will agree that helping out and doing good feels great. Research shows that the act of contribution makes people feel happier because it gives them a sense of purpose. Volunteer for the environment and rest assured that you will contribute your time to a very valuable cause and feel good on top of that too!

2. Experience

Volunteering for the environment will be a unique experience where you will learn different skills related to the environment. You environmental volunteering experience could count as an internship if it is acknowledged by your university or college. Volunteer experiences are always highly appreciated by future employers because it shows a willingness to contribute along with a strong social awareness and sense of responsibility.

3. Self Empowerment

Getting out of your comfort zone will empower you which will push you forward in life. The new experiences will also give you a different life perspective which you will benefit from in the long run.

4. People

Not only will you be connecting with locals but you will also get to know other volunteers and staff who share your passion. You’re destined to meet inspiring people and develop meaningful relationships during your environmental volunteering journey.

5. Travel

This is the ideal opportunity to combine travel with something meaningful. Have you always wanted to discover a certain part of the world? This is a great way to explore that place while contributing your valuable time to an incredibly important cause.

🤔 How to Volunteer Abroad for Environmental Conservation

You’re determined to become a volunteer for environmental conservation and you’ve selected some environmental volunteer opportunities you’re passionate about. What’s next? Let’s take a look at the first 3 steps which will send you on your way to environmental volunteer work in no time:

1. Check whether there’s a match between the project and your skills.
2. Take a look at the location of the project and decide whether it would be a location you are willing to travel to.
3. Get in touch with the organization and see whether your expectations and the schedule of the program match up.

You’re almost done, hang in there. Once you know your destination, take the following 2 steps before setting off on your environmental conservation adventure!

4. Look into the visa requirements for the country you will volunteer in.
5. Make sure you have a valid passport.

When these items are sorted, you are good to go!

Travel safe and get ready to volunteer and help the environment in some of the most exotic locations in the world. We are happy to help you find the right environmental conservation project for you!