Botany Internship/Volunteer Placement for Ecotourism Project in Ecuador

Botany internships available inEcuadorfor one of CRACYP’s sustainable rural development projects in the foothills of the Andes. 

CRACYP (which stands for Rural Reforestation and Progress Network Corporation, in Spanish) is a non profit organisation working in over 200 communities on the borders of the Cotopaxi, Bolivar and Los Rios provinces in Ecuador.  

CRACYP’s aim is "Progreso Verde" or "Green Progress" - conservation of the environment and economic and social development of local communities.  We aim to transfer appropriate technology and sustainable alternative agricultural methods, in exchange for community participation in reforestation.  This process also increases the production alternatives and resources of the communities involved, improving their quality of life.  

We need a botanist or botany student to inventory the plant life of the area where we are planning an ecotourism project.  Volunteers or interns will need to identify and list the plants in the local area.  Photography skills would also be useful as we would like to produce a simple guide to common/edible/useful plants for our future ecotourists.

This is a great opportunity for those studying botany to gain practical field experience. 

Volunteer/intern botanists will be based mostly in the organic sugar cane farming communities in the foothills of the Andes, a beautiful area with a subtropical climate. 

More details: Download the information pack from http://www.progresoverde.org/internship.html or email internship.ecuador@yahoo.co.uk.  Please quote reference SDBotAug11 when you apply.