We warmly invite you to join us at the Iracambi Rainforest Center in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, where you can obtain firsthand experience in reforestation, medicinal plants, community outreach, and environmental education.

For over twenty years, we’ve planted over 140,000 native forest trees, founded the first program of environmental education in the region, set up the first web-based GIS, created thousands of acres of protected areas, hosted 2000 international students and volunteers from 70 countries, and impacted the lives of thousands of people in the Serra do Brigadeiro mountains.  

Iracambi alumni (we call them Iracambistas) are spreaded across the world, and all possible activities bring the idea of making the world a better place. Whether you stay for one or six months, you will leave us enriched, as you will enrich your surroundings whenever it may be.

Together with volunteers, students, supporters, and communities, we are willing to plant trees and create a new scenario for the Atlantic Forest biome in Brazil. Our focus is Saving Forests and Changing Lives, and we would love you to be part of it!

The Forest 4 Water Program focus on helping local farmers as we all together plant native and productive tree species to increase farm incomes, restore degraded soils, protect water sources, and improve the habitat for biodiversity.  

Iracambi is in responsible for preparing and caring for the seedlings, planting, and monitoring the planted trees. The help of volunteers is essential in all the different stages and practices involved in this process, starting with the favorite place on our campus: the nursery. Creating and maintaining healthy seedlings requires a lot of work: from collecting seeds to nurturing them until becoming seedlings, and ensuring they are healthy enough to be planted.

The seedlings usually are planted at a specific time of the year with the beginning of summer rains, this method increases the chances of their survival. 

Planting trees requires visiting farmers at different periods of the process (before, during, and after planting) to choose the area for planting, prepare the soil, and maintain the trees for two years. That way, we can offer the needed guidance to achieve the best results!

By volunteering you gain experience in reforestation, plant biodiversity, getting to know properties, rural producers and their way of life, learning and applying techniques for collecting, identifying seeds and plants, planting and monitoring, and many more!

It is all about saving forests - so what about changing lives? At Iracambi, we also work with local farmers, school kids, volunteers, and visitors, hosting visits, running workshops and outreach programs designed to raise awareness of the issues of how to live sustainably, and how to encourage more and more people to join us in the exciting task of protecting one of the most important forests in the world. 

We invite you to participate in our ongoing projects and encourage you to take responsibility for your work, experience, lifestyle, and for your fellow Iracambistas. Besides that, having your own study project or particular passion is another possibility for you develop here. For that, we can give you the space and support that you need for that as well. If you have a brilliant idea for something we could or ought to do, let’s see if we can do it! 

Iracambi is located in the buffer zone of the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park. The park’s craggy mountains and deep ravines protect an extraordinary range of biodiversity, including the largest known population of Brachyteles hypoxanthus, the Wooly Spider or Muriqui monkey.

Life at Iracambi

Iracambi is what you make of it...

Studying, interning, volunteering or visiting Iracambi provides you with a fantastic opportunity to be part of a lifestyle that is likely very different from what you are used to. You will be sharing the Research and Conservation Center with people of many different nationalities, backgrounds, skills, ages and interest, and everything right in the center of Atlantic Rainforest.

You be living either in the Center itself or in one of the four cabins. The Center, which is +75 years old, has four bedrooms, each hosting up two people, a living room, library and two bathrooms. The cabins each have two bedrooms, bathroom and a living room. The houses are well maintained and have electricity, hot showers and wireless access 24 hours a day.

We have a restaurant, that provides three delicious meals a day.

Costs

The fees covers volunteer accommodation, internet access 24 hours a day, 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) at the restaurant at Iracambi. Also project costs and investments.

Volunteers are responsible for the payment of additional costs, such as travel costs, visa costs, etc. In addition, you may also want to go out for dinner and do weekend activities.

The cost of dinner outside Iracambi(without drinks) ranges from 15 to 30 reais. The cost of the tours (including a guide, equipment and entrance fee) comes to about 100 to 140 reais depending on the activity and how many volunteers come.

The currency in Brazil is Real. Check with your bank to see if your cards will work in Brazil, be sure to memorize your pin code, and inform your credit card company that you will be traveling overseas.

The nearest ATM to Iracambi is in Muriaé (1.5 hours.) Please note that you cannot change dollars in Muriaé. Change money at the airport on arrival.

Most ATMs will not accept American Express, it’s a good idea to bring a Visa credit/debit card. ATMs provide a better rate than money exchange places (casas de câmbio).

Health and travel insurance

Please note that Iracambi requires you to have health and travel insurance. Please take measures to cover yourself prior to departure for Iracambi. It may also be possible to extend your home insurance coverage to cover you for overseas travel. You will need to send the details of your insurance, together with details on your next of kin, to Iracambi before your departure to Brazil.

Make sure to familiarize yourself with the international medical coverage your country has provided and that you know how to make a claim if necessary. Though Iracambi takes precautions to ensure the safety of Iracambistas, we regret that we are not in a position to accept people with serious medical conditions or physical disabilities.

There is a small clinic in Rosário da Limeira which provides first aid, and an excellent hospital in Muriaé.

Vaccination

It is important that you ensure you are inoculated against the following: 

• Hepatitis A 
• Tetanus
• Typhoid 
• Yellow Fever 
• Diphtheria 
• Polio

Iracambi is not located in a malarial area, but if you plan to travel to other parts of Brazil, such as the Pantanal or the Amazon, you will need a suitable prophylactic, which you can pick up in Brazil. Your doctor may also suggest Hepatitis B and Rabies, but you are unlikely to need them.

Visas

All volunteers who wish to stay under 6 months should apply for a tourist visa and not a volunteer visa.

Visas are required for tourists of several countries, including Australia. You can now get these easily online within five days!

Please check what the visa conditions are for your entry into Brazil. Visas are valid for 90 days, with a possible extension for another 90 days.

European nationals do not require visas but are issued with a visitor’s pass on arrival, these are also valid for 90 days, with a possible extension. If you are from a European country that has adopted the Schengen protocol you will not be able to renew your visitor’s pass beyond 90 days. The UK is not a Schengen protocol country.

For volunteers coming from other countries, be sure to check visa requirements for your nationality!

For visa or visitor pass renewals, in case you wish to stay longer than 90 days, you will need to head to the nearest federal police headquarters, in Juiz de Fora, Rio de Janeiro or Belo Horizonte, making sure it is on or before your 90 days is over or else you may be fined! After renewing your visa or visitor pass, you are permitted to be in the country for 90 days from the date of renewal, so make sure you count the days correctly before you plan to leave the country or again you may be fined. If you need to state your address on arrival, her

If you need to state your address on arrival, here it is: Fazenda Iracambi, Rosário da Limeira, 36878-000 - Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Please check your specific visa and travel regulations yourself before you come to Brazil!

Language

In order for us to be able to communicate with you, we require that you speak either English or Portuguese! Although you will be fine at Iracambi without a word of Portuguese, you’ll get much more out of your visit if you can communicate, at least a little, in Portuguese.

If you are interested in community-based research work it will be essential to speak Portuguese, and even if you are not, you will find that even the most slender command of Portuguese will enormously enrich your time speaking with our wonderful neighbors, most of whom do NOT speak English.

What to Bring

• Equipment: mosquito repellent, sunscreen, sleeping bag (we provide all bedding so this is only for camping), tent (if camping), camera, a towel, laptop for work, flashlight. If you buy a sim card make sure it is CLARO or VIVO. A mosquito net.
  
• Documents/Money: credit card, passport, visa, proof of vaccinations, print out of your medical and travel insurance.
  
• Entertainment: books and movies on your computer.
  
• Clothing: walking shoes, boots (waterproof is a good idea), shoes to relax in; sweater/jacket, waterproof coat (the very rainy season is between December and March but you should always bring a waterproof), swim wear, various long and short sleeved shirts as well as long pants and shorts, work gloves. We recommend dark colored clothes, and remember that jeans take a long time to dry!!