Volunteer in the Peruvian Amazon!
There are many places remaining to be explored in the Peruvian Amazon, and volunteers can help us do it. Photo: Geoff Gallice
The ASA manages a variety of projects in sustainable tropical agriculture, and there are many ways volunteers can contribute. Photo: Geoff Gallice.
A massive Brazil nut tree (Bertholetia excelsa) at Finca Las PIedras, one of the southeastern Peruvian Amazon's leading non-timber forest products and one that we are promoting in our area. Photo: Geoff Gallice
Our long-term study of butterfly diversity and ecology aims to understand why there are so many species in the Amazon, and how they interact with their host plants to form the world's most biodiverse forest. Photo: Aaron Pomerantz
Why volunteer?
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Contribute to on-the ground conservation in the world's greatest rainforest
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Get away from it all and get your hands dirty in the field
Maybe you're curious about the Amazon rainforest, or perhaps you just want to try something very new and different. Whatever the case, we have a great opportunity for you in Peru! This isn't ecotourism – you will work hard to contribute to our research and conservation projects in the rainforest. Your hard work, however, will be rewarded with a unique experience in one of the most biodiverse corners of the planet. You will mingle with an eclectic mix of like-minded people, including biologists, students, and other visitors from Peru and around the world.
Volunteer activities
Our projects in Peru are as diverse as the rainforest that surrounds us. Volunteers may assist in one or more of the following projects during their stay at Finca Las Piedras:
Butterfly diversity & ecology project
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Collect butterfly species using traps and hand nets
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Search for butterfly eggs and caterpillars on their host plants
Biological inventories
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Set up camera traps to study rainforest mammals
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Collect rainforest fruits and seeds to create color field guides to plants
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Go birding to boost the Finca Las Piedras species list
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Collect insects as part of ongoing surveys
Sustainable tropical agriculture
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Remove invasive plants from cacao agroforestry plots
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Grow organic food for consumption on site
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Create compost and biochar for incorporation into agricultural fields
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Care for seedlings in the ASA shade house and tree nursery
Read more about the ASA's ongoing projects in the Peruvian Amazon that volunteers may contribute to
About Finca Las Piedras
This is the Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon's field site and base of operations in the Peruvian Amazon, located about an hour north of the regional capital of Puerto Maldonado. The site hosts students, researchers, and conservation professionals that are working to advance research-based conservation of the rainforest that extends for hundreds of kilometers in all directions. Finca Las Piedras provides access to upland 'terra firme' rainforest, regenerating secondary forest, and both active and abandoned agricultural fields.
Living facilities on site include shared dorms with mosquito nets, shared composting toilets, a shared bathing platform over a crystal clear jungle stream, and an open-air kitchen and dining hall where meals are served—all rustic and designed to minimize our environmental impact.
Read more about Finca Las Piedras here.
Volunteer fees
What's included?
Accommodations are provided in shared, basic dormitories, and 3 meals are provided in the common dining hall per night stayed (7 days/wk). ASA provides basic amenities such as mosquito net, bedding, towel, and toilet paper. Volunteer activities are facilitated by ASA academic faculty and staff, and guidance in activities is provided daily (mon-fri).
Not included in the volunteer fees are transportation to and from the field site, Finca Las Piedras; local transportation unrelated to volunteer activities (e.g., to go into town), internet, laundry service, and personal care items such as soap, shampoo, etc., are also not included.
Please read our Cancellation Policy as well as our Terms and Conditions before making a payment. You will be given payment options upon completion of the Application Form.
Volunteers work with ASA staff, interns, and other visitors to move native trees from our shadehouse into the native food forest, a living seed bank and source of food, fiber, and medicine. Photo: Geoff Gallice
A massive Brazil nut tree (Bertholetia excelsa) at Finca Las PIedras, one of the southeastern Peruvian Amazon's leading non-timber forest products and one that we are promoting in our area. Photo: Geoff Gallice
A sabrewing (family Hesperiidae), one of hundreds of species of butterflies found at Finca Las Piedras. The rainforests of the western Amazon are the world's most biodiverse, with more species of plants and animals found here than anywhere else on earth. We're working to document this biodiversity and volunteers can help. Photo: Geoff Gallice
