Overview
Volunteer with Pink River Dolphins in Brazil

This project takes you to South America to help revolutionise knowledge of the enigmatic pink river dolphins of the Brazilian Amazon and contribute to research and conservation work preventing the demise of river dolphins worldwide. This well-established research project follows the daily lives of the 300+ recognisable dolphins in the local population. Volunteers will become part of the observation team in the magical environment of the flooded forest, in the heart of the Mamirauá reserve within the Amazon rainforest. Here you will live on a floating house on the river; waking up to the sights and sounds of the rainforest and existing alongside its spectacular wildlife. Even by the standards of volunteer holidays, this opportunity to help rare marine life in Brazil is an especially rich experience.

View Film Footage, images, blogs, volunteer stories from the field, volunteer video diaries and more at the programs media centre

The Project Team were really welcoming and helped to make the whole experience absolutely superb - the isolation, the scenery, the wildlife, the smell, the involvement and of course the feeling that this work was to the benefit of these unique animals. I shall remember this as one of my most engaging life-experiences

David Carson, January 2008

What Difference Does This Project Make?

Mamirauá is a sustainable development reserve which combines the conservation of the area with the managed use of natural resources by the local population. Research on the dolphins includes new births that are recorded and the development of each calf monitored until it is weaned, through adolescence and as a young adult. This work contributes to the research and conservation work preventing the demise of river dolphins worldwide

Highlights

Living and working in the world famous Mamirauá reserve, researching rare river dolphins and assisting the project’s observation team.

Location

This project takes you into the heart of a unique area of Brazil's Amazon rainforest. After flying to Tefe in the Amazonas region, you then embark on a two hour boat ride to reach the Mamirauá reserve, located in the middle of the Solimoes River. Mamirauá is a sustainable development reserve, which combines the conservation of the area with the managed use of natural resources by the local population. The reserve is part of the Várzea ecosystem, a forest flooded by the sediment-rich Amazonian rivers. The flooded forest is a fantastic experience not to be forgotten, where bugs, beasts and the weird and wonderful are plentiful.

Field Conditions

Our base is a floating house/lab of 11m x 15m, tethered to trees in the floating forest, which has showers and solar power. Accommodation is plain but comfortable, with beds or hammocks in bedrooms, a good shower, a flushing toilet, a gas cooker and running water. We normally share cooking duties. Food is relatively simple but excellent, and vegetarians can be catered for. Laundry is washed by hand on site, and dries in the sun. It’s hot, so shorts, t-shirt and open sandals are standard. The nearest town is two hours away by boat, and has a telephone and hospital.