Biodiversity Research Institute in the Tropical Forest of Brazil

During a trip through South America, I set aside a month long period to volunteer at an NGO. I could not have chosen a more suitable location than the IPBio Reserve, situated in the diminishing Atlantic Rainforest. The reserve is situated in a very unique position, in that it is an unparalleled nature sanctuary, but also just a short drive from the town of Iporanga. This offers the opportunity to not only be immersed in the conservation projects occurring at IPBio but also near enough to civilization to grab essentials (great for long-stay individuals) and make the most of free time.
Given the variety of projects ongoing at IPBio, there is the opportunity to partake in a wide range of projects and also to be placed in an area of personal interest. Given my professional background, I was able to assist in a number of research projects, but also help in volunteer coordination and various administrative tasks.
The staff at IPBio allowed for my time spent at the reserve to be the most memorable. At other NGOs, I have experienced a lack of organization and general discoordination amongst the staff. This could not be further from the reality at IPBio. From the carefully prepared volunteer package; outlining everything necessary for your stay, including how to get to the reserve with ease, what to expect, what projects are ongoing, etc. to the daily involvement from the volunteer coordinators and research staff.
Overall I would recommend the volunteer program at IPBio to everyone looking to become further involved in an NGO on the forefront of biodiversity conservation. Given the breadth of the projects, there are opportunities for people with a science background looking to become involved in a leading research institution but also those with less experience hoping to become grow their conservationist perspective.

I have really enjoyed my time at ipbio; working as a Biological Research assistant for the Bioluminescent Mushroom Project has been so interesting. I have had so many opportunities to do things that I never normally would have been able to do, from designing the new mushroom project logo to searching for undiscovered species in the forest. As the work is so varied, I never found it was too repetitive and felt like I was making a valuable contribution to the reserve and to the conservation of the natural area. Ipbio’s location in the amazing Mata Atlantica also adds to the volunteer experience, a day doesn’t go by when you haven’t seen something new or strange!
Overall I would definitely recommend working at ipbio!

Every little step counts. Every time a volunteer joins a program, he/she impacts not only through their work, but also with the unique perspective derived from their skills and experience. And even with their relationship with the staff, local communities and other volunteers.

I have volunteered on several projects around the world and avidly fed on the passion that spurs from everyone involved in these conservation or education projects. And IPBIO was no exception. In fact, it is probably the best experience I have had so far. Maybe because of everybody’s commitment. From the passionate founder, Sergio, who will be amazed by every little frog, insect, bird or animals he sees, with you. Add the extensive knowledge of all the biologists who devoted their lives to conservation. And the amazement of volunteers, who deeply believe their work matters, sparing no effort in all their projects.

This is why I hope you too will come to Reserva Betary. And help the Biodiversity Research projects of IPBIO and Celine.

Whether it is tree inventory, bio-luminescent mushrooms, camera traps, pitfalls, as well as cave exploring. Your help will matter. And you’ll make many new, very special friends. As I did. New friends to treasure. And, hopefully, meet again.

If you love nature, the Betary Reserve is the place for you. No wonder it is called Biodiversity Research Institute; the biodiversity at the reserve is mesmerizing. All you need to do is pay attention, and you will encounter different species every day, so make sure you bring a camera with you! Volunteers can be involved in many different activities; I helped with camera traps, to record the mammals of the reserve; tadpole research, to observe the presence of a fungus responsible for the most deadly and infectious disease in amphibians; mushroom inventory; tree inventory; and feeding the animals that are used for environmental education. On top of all that, the reserve’s location is the best if you want to go visit beautiful places on your days off, like amazing caves and waterfalls. I had a great time volunteering at Betary Reserve and recommend it to anyone wanting to have a memorable experience immersed in the Atlantic Forest!

I am from France and volunteered on reserve betary’s for 2 months, I really enjoy it.
IPBio is an excellent working environment and is very comfortable to live in the yellow house, surrounded by wildlife.
My mission on FreeWildlifeBrazil Celine is the tree inventory, the goal is to repertories all the different species of trees on the reserve.
My second assignment is to help the team build the release center for the birds.
Apart from the projects within Celine, there is a lot of activity to do here.
The weekend trips to caves and boya crossing across the various rivers in Iporanga have been another highlight, and you definitely need to stay a minimum of a month to be able to explore the various sites within and around the area.

IPBIO is located next to iporanga a little city, despite the distance from the big city ; the region offers many activities like visit cave or some hike , and iporanga have lot of buses to visit big city (Sao Paulo,Curitiba, Eldorado….) .
The reverse betary offers a beautiful view with a mountain range that surrounds the reserve .

The projects proposed by IPBIO are diversed et varied. For me, that was tree inventory ( the mapping of the reserve) and reverse maintenance ( build a release center).

That was one of my best 8 weeks in a foreign country and i encourage everyone to try this rewarding experience.

I am a French engineering student, and I stayed at Reserve Betary for 8 weeks. It was a beautiful life experience, I learned a lot thanks to the different projects that ipBio provides. I decided to apply for the volunteer coordinator role, because it allowed me to contribute to the charity’s organizational needs, in addition to its communication work. I also had the chance to participate in other project like tree Inventory or Bioacoustics.

Many activities are organized at the weekends in order to discover the region, caves, waterfalls and other great landscapes. The team is nice and open to share their knowledge.
I highly recommend the volunteer program for everyone.

I spent three weeks as a volunteer photographer at IPBio. My main task was to take pictures of the life of the other volunteers. Which means their personal volunteer projects (tree inventory, bioacoustics, bioluminescent mushrooms, tadpoles, birds, gardening,…) and free time activities. For every project and weekend activity I took a couple of representative pictures which will be used at the website and in the volunteer package. In addition I produced and edited some video clips. The reserve is located in the middle of the atlantic rainforest and there are many awesome weekend activities to do, for example Boia Cross, hiking, visiting waterfalls and caves (the region is called the capital of caves), BBQ and many other cool stuff. I enjoyed every day at IPBio and would recommend everybody to come to this amazing place. Come as soon as possible and stay as long as possible, you won’t regret it! ;)