Flor de la Amazonia | Animal Rescue Centre | Volunteer Project in Ecuador

The Project / The Placement / The Location / Pricing and Application

Overseas Volunteering with the Flor de la Amazonia Animal Rescue Center

Located in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador, is the Flor de la Amazonia Animal Rescue Center (The ARC). The project offers volunteers the opportunity to work in an animal rescue centre, caring for animals and rehabilitating them ready for release back into the jungle. With the help that volunteers give us, we can rescue wild animals from illegal captivity in homes and restaurants in Ecuador. The project aims to give wild animals the chance to live in the wild with their own kind and maintain the population levels of native animals in Ecuador. The Animal Rescue Centre also aims to help local communities make a living from their surroundings whilst maintaining the flora and fauna of Ecuador and help protect against deforestation.

What the Project Needs

The Animal Rescue Centre needs inventive and dedicated volunteers who are keen to enhance the lives of the animals and preserve the natural habitat in which they live. The project is suitable for first-time and experienced volunteers looking for a true volunteering experience in South America. Whether volunteers are on a gap-year, on a year abroad with university, taking a career break or in retirement, Ecuador and the Flor de la Amazonia Animal Rescue Centre have opportunities available. Volunteers need to be fit and healthy and share a love for animals.

How It Works

Continuity is at the heart of our volunteer projects, offering a structure for both you and the animals and communities you help. The local animal populations are declining rapidly and animals are rescued from living in small cages in restaurants or being tied to a gate. Volunteers allow the Arc to care for and accommodate rescued animals, allowing them to live with other animals, and be released back into the wild. Volunteers feed the animals and help clean and maintain their enclosures and shelters. Ecuador is still a developing economy, and by improving knowledge and respect for the local environment, the Animal Rescue Centre hopes to teach local communities how to live in harmony with their surroundings, allowing them to progress in Ecuador, in South America and globally.

Why It's There

Although illegal, having a wild animal such as monkey or parrot is a fashionable pet in suburban Ecuador. Just traveling around Ecuador it is possible to find monkeys tied to the window sill of a restaurant or locked in a small cage. These animals often live alone denying them contact with their own species and removing the opportunity to reproduce. This coupled with a growing population in Ecuador, the ever continuing encroachment into the Amazon rainforest and deforestation have led to a dramatic drop in the popluations of animals native to Ecuador. Increase populations of indigenous communities who continue traditional hunter gatherer lifestyles have had a added negative impact on population levels. The Animal Rescue Centre is a refuge for animals who have been taken from the jungle, giving them the chance to live with their own kind an offer them the chance to return back to the wild.

The Flor de la Amazonia Animal Rescue Centre is using the assistance of volunteers and generous donations to give the native flora and fauna the best chance possible to compete in a rapidly developing Ecuador. The project also aims to help local communities uses their skills and resources to cope with modern Ecuador whilst retaining traditional values.