Amazon Rainforest Research Assistants and Photography/Videography with IPBio

My time spent working with IPBio was assuredly one of the best things I have been involved in to-date!

Firstly, it is to be noted that the Amazon branch of the organisation is very new comparatively to the Atlantic Forest, meaning that the facilities are different but this is by no means a negative! The accommodation is lovely, being in a re-purposed AirBnB, complete with swimming pool, affectionate cat and the loveliest neighbours you could ever hope to meet. On top of that, the coordinators are fantastic, being helpful, friendly and informative regarding both work, down-time and anything in-between.

Even though I had travelled for two days to the other side of the planet, I had never felt more at home. Meeting likeminded volunteers from across the globe was really one of the highlights of my time there; the others being the inventories: Traveling to different locations to photograph bird populations, discovering new species of mushrooms, exploring the night-time world of the rainforest searching for fluorescent creatures, catching a huge frog and naming it "Bruno"... the list goes on!

Some of the best extra activities we did were visiting Santarem to see the pink dolphins and on our way back from the Bird Inventory at Canal do Jari, taking a tour to see sloths and squirrel monkeys. The beaches around Alter do Chao are also some of the nicest I've been to!

The work IPBio does is essential, considering that the Amazon Rainforest is home to so many endemic species and yet so little is known about them. By conducting inventories over time, species can be monitored and the impact of threats can hopefully be identified to help conserve one of the most biodiverse places on the planet.

Overall, I think IPBio exceeded my expectations, acting as an educational and immensely fun project full of diverse work and wonderful people. While I was there a whole month, I feel that I could have honestly stayed there for longer, discovering new things and spending time in one of the most Amazing places I have ever been!
I would highly recommend IPBio to friends, family and anyone looking to make a difference in the conservation of the natural world: I very much believe in the work they do and thoroughly appreciate just how accessible the project is to volunteers.

The IPBio program is an amazing, once in a life time experience! Being able to be apart of important research whilst making life long friends. I would definitely recommend doing this program if you get the chance. Be prepared for physical work, but also a lot of fun along the way!
This program is the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in biodiversity research within the Amazon rainforest. It’s a great way to step out of your comfort zone and learn so many new things.
Both Imran and Marleen are hands down the best instructors to do a program as special as this one.

I spent 3 months volunteering with IPBio on the Amazon project and absolutely loved it. Pre departure they were brilliant at communicating information, answering any questions and generally making you feel comfortable with what to expect. Once on site the IPBio team were professional, supportive and a lot of fun. I found the work to be interesting and varied with plenty of free time to explore the local area and culture. The other volunteers tended to be like-minded, hardworking and fun loving. There were usually 8 volunteers sharing a comfortable house and there was always something happening from Capoeira lessons with the neighbor to Carimbo Dancing with the locals and not forgetting the forest night searches and riverside BBQ’s. I truly can’t recommend this company and the Amazon Biodiversity Research experience enough.

This was the best experience I could have asked for. The team are super responsive and organised before you arrive. The accommodation is great and you only pay a small price for a great place to stay. The amount of time per day that is normally from 8-1ish which works well in the heat and weekends off. Each day the team does different data collection/inventories (fish, trees, mushrooms, reforestation, and birds) as well as one night search per week. The people I met there were open, kind, hard working people with great personalities. The volunteer organiser is really kind and sometimes arranges BBQs or social activities. It's super easy to explore the surrounding area by yourself of booking tours into the forest. I had moments in this programme that will last me a lifetime. Like finding bioluminescence on a night search, snorkelling through the small crystal clear streams of the Amazon, dancing with the other volunteers at the local Carimbo. This is one of the most transparent, well organised and dedicated organisations I have come across.

22 year old French student, I was looking for a field experience as part of my studies in tropical forest ecology, and I first chose to apply for the IPBio Amazonie program due to its reasonable cost and the diversity of activities proposed.

I stayed for almost 2 months and I can say that all my expectations were fully satisfied! The diversity of the inventories carried out will enable people with or without a scientific background to appreciate the beauty of the flora and fauna, and to learn about them.

I'm still enchanted by the beauty of the region, which is certainly one of the most beautiful places on earth and offers plenty to discover during the weekends, as well as by the local culture, which will give you a warm welcome.

It was also an opportunity to meet other volunteers from other countries and with different backgrounds: amazing encounters!

In definitive, it was the ideal volunteer program for learning more about the Amazon ecosystem, doing useful and rewarding work with passionate people.

I'm a 19 years old girl from Sweden. After graduation I wanted to do a meaningful volunteer program and something that could be helpful for my future work area.
At IPbio we got pick up from the airport at all time. Staff was helpful and nice. The living accommodation was comfortable and the neighbours offered safe taxi transportations and other freetime activities. I liked that at IPbio we got to experience a lot of different things, the activities were for example fish inventory, bird inventory or planting trees on an island.

Social Impact (5)
Safety (4)
Support (5)
Free Time Activities (5)
Value (5)

My one month volunteering in The Amazon Rainforest was absolutely incredible, I really can't recommend it enough. It had always been my dream to go to the Amazon and everyday I was so happy to be there! Imi and Marleen, our coordinators were so welcoming when I first arrived and the other volunteers ended up becoming fast friends that I felt so at home there.

The work can be challenging in the heat, you are sweating 24/7, but you know you are making a positive impact and it feels very rewarding. Every day is different ranging from measuring and planting trees to identifying fish, frogs, birds, and mushrooms.

The volunteer lodge is beautiful, (you feel like you are on holiday!!) the locals are so kind, the neighbours are the best and the food is delicious. I went on so many amazing excursions out on the river, danced a lot of Carimbo and learned a traditional martial art called Capoeira. I'm now solo travelling around South America and EVERY time someone asks me what the highlight of my trip has been so far, I always say volunteering in Alter do Chao. I will definitely be coming back.

I spent a month volunteering with IPBio in the Amazon rainforest whilst on a career break. I joined while the program was still relatively new; having volunteered in conservation before, I wanted to participate in a program at an earlier stage of development.

On the whole, the program is well-organised and it has a lot of variety, with different themes for each day - trees, fish, mushrooms, amphibians and birds. There is also a day dedicated to reforestation activities (e.g. potting seedlings, planting trees) - I always enjoyed these as you could feel an immediate sense of your contribution. The activities rotate between locations every week so no two weeks are the same either.

Whilst I liked the breadth of the program, this does come with one drawback - you gain surface-level familiarity in each area but never develop any deeper understanding. Some people may find this lack of depth unsatisfying. Currently there are no specialist staff on base so opportunities to nerd out on particular areas are limited e.g. you're not going to have an in-depth discussion about frogs with a herpetologist. However, this may change in future as the program develops.

Working hours are generally 8am-2pm so there is a lot of downtime. As mentioned by other reviewers, there is a wide range of extracurricular activities available and I have lots of fond memories of capoeira lessons, carimbo nights and weekend tours.