During the summer season, many nature reserves and national parks require helpers. In these corners of the wild, people are waiting to help clean the area, develop walking trails, and communicate with visitors.
This type of work is unpaid, and you usually have to travel to your destination at your own expense. But volunteers can spend from several days to a month in beautiful places and learn more about the flora and fauna of protected areas. Here are a few points on the map where volunteers are welcome.
1. Kronotsky Nature Reserve
This is the most beautiful nature conservation area in Kamchatka. In the reserve you can admire to volcanoes, see Kamchatka geysers and lakes with the purest transparent water. Brown bears and reindeer live here, on the shores and in the waters of the Pacific Ocean live sea otters, sea lions, eared seals, gray whales. The reserve has eco-educational tourism programs. And volunteers are also welcome here every year.
The volunteer program has been in operation since 2011. Helping scientists collect materials in protected areas, clearing hiking trails, taking photographs and shooting videos, selling souvenirs in small shops – these are just a few areas of volunteer work. Physically trained assistants over 18 years of age are welcome here.
To be in the reserve, volunteers first undergo training in school conservationists. Then they submit an application, undergo a competitive selection and receive an invitation from the organizers. After the recruitment of the next volunteer shift is completed, applications are closed, and those interested must wait for the next window. All details about the program can be found on the website or contact the organizers by phone and on social networks. All coordinates are on a special page official resource of the reserve.
Volunteer shifts last from three weeks, you can choose a time from late April to early October. Freelance assistants live on the territory of the reserve. Volunteers need to get to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on their own, and from there they will be taken to their place of work.
2. Kaluga Zaseki Nature Reserve
It is located in the southeast of the Kaluga region, in the northwestern part of the Central Russian Upland. In the reserve you can see beautiful broad-leaved forests, birch groves and dense spruce forests. Here you can find bears, lynxes, bison, black storks, green woodpeckers, as well as many other species of animals and birds – both rare and common.
The reserve annually welcomes volunteers from the beginning of May to the end of September. Volunteers will have to clear ecological trails, build feeders for animals, remove dead wood and perform other chores. Those who wish must be physically healthy. It’s great if candidates have hiking experience and know how to work with carpentry and carpentry tools.
Volunteers live in guest houses or tents for 2-3 people, buy groceries in the store and prepare the food themselves. Shifts last from three days. All details can be found at page official website dedicated to volunteer programs of the current year.
3. Reserve “Kologrivsky Forest”
It is located in the Kostroma region and protects the flora and fauna of the southern taiga. Vegetation of the reserve diverse – from coniferous forests to beautiful meadows where northern orchids grow. Here live beavers, otters, minks and many species of birds.
In 2024, the reserve needs volunteers who are interested in creative work. Here they are going to shoot cartoons based on their own scripts. The main character is the bear cub Yasha, who lives in the local forest. In addition, guides are welcome here.
All details can be found at page about volunteering official website. The necessary contact information is also there.
4. Kenozersky National Park
It is located in the southwest of the Arkhangelsk region. This is an untouched corner of northern nature, on the territory of which there is a watershed between the Baltic and White seas. You can come here to see a piece of the northern taiga and познакомиться with the culture of Kenozerie.
There are volunteer camps in the national park, but single helpers are also welcome here for periods of more than a week. The tasks are very different – for example, you can help local residents collect herbs for aromatic tea drinks or work on an eco-farm, caring for horses, goats and sheep. Photographers are also welcome here. To learn about all volunteer programs, you should follow the information on official website parka.
To become a volunteer assistant, you need to fill out a form and then pass the selection process. Those who will live in volunteer camps must pay registration fee – 3,000 rubles.
5. Caucasian Nature Reserve
Located in the western part of the Greater Caucasus. You can get here from Sochi and Adler. The nature of this mountainous area is extremely diverse – here you can see forest landscapes, alpine meadows, and glaciers. Reserve was created for the protection and increase of the wild Caucasian bison population.
Volunteers are welcome here throughout the warm season. There is especially a lot of work in May and early June and in September – October. It is necessary to clean the area, dismantle old signs and install new ones, prepare hay and plant food for animals. There is an opportunity to prove yourself as a caretaker of tourist sites.
You can come for one day or for a couple of weeks. You need to take with you all the equipment that will be useful for life in nature. Depending on the place of work, volunteers live in their own tents or a camp made up of them, as well as in forest houses.
Full information about volunteer projects is available at official website reserve.
6. Zyuratkul National Park
Located in the Southern Urals, not far from Chelyabinsk. Park territory includes Lake Zyuratkul and the mountainous region around it. In local forests live about 40 species of animals. The largest are elk and bear. The park is also home to minks, foxes and martens, as well as more than a hundred different species of birds.
Volunteers are also welcome here. They will have to feed the birds, mark the trails and clear them of debris, landscape the area, and also work with tourists. Park staff have developed several volunteer programs that run from early June to late August. Shifts last 10 days.
All details are on official website national park. To remember your work, you can bring home souvenirs with the symbols of Zyuratkul.
7. Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve
Its territory stretches along the coast of the Sea of Japan. Main appointment reserve – to protect and develop the Amur tiger population. But besides him here lives many other animals. These are the forest cat and the lynx, the fish owl and the mandarin duck, as well as other animals and birds.
Volunteers are welcome here from April to December. Volunteers are offered three directions – scientific, environmental education and economic. The most difficult job is installing camera traps that will record Amur tigers. In addition, it is necessary to improve the territory, as well as receive tourists and sell souvenirs.
Volunteer shifts last from three weeks. The reserve provides housing for volunteer helpers. More information about placement conditions and upcoming work can be found on the page official website. To get to the reserve, you need to get to the village of Terney, which is located 670 kilometers from Vladivostok.
8. Astrakhan Reserve
Located in the Astrakhan region in the lower reaches of the Volga. Reserve was created to protect rare birds that live in the Volga delta and on the Caspian coast. Here live Siberian crane and mute swan, pelican, great cormorant, white-tailed eagle and many other birds. company to them make up raccoon dog, fox, American mink, muskrat and other animals.
The reserve invites volunteers every year. Spring and autumn expeditions are conducted for them. The first takes place in early April, the second, as a rule, in September – October. Volunteers remove debris and restore forests, clear debris from drains, and improve the area.
Volunteers live in small service houses and eat in the canteen. In their free time, excursions and master classes are held for them. All information about volunteer projects is available on official website reserve. To become a volunteer, you must fill out questionnaire.
9. Nenets Nature Reserve
Located in the Arctic, on the coast of the Barents Sea. In the reserve you can see the harsh nature of the Arctic and meet the amazing inhabitants of the North. Wolverines, arctic foxes and foxes, seals, Atlantic walruses, and many species of fish and birds live here.
In spring and summer, the reserve usually begins recruiting volunteers for the current season. The list of works is almost the same as in other protected areas. It is necessary to remove garbage, clear debris, cut firewood, prepare hay and feed for animals. And also participate in scientific expeditions to study bird migration and help researchers. Shifts last from five days to a month. The number of volunteers is limited, so if you are interested in the nature of the North, you should hurry up. All details are at official website. You can get to the reserve from the city of Naryan-Mar.
As a rule, volunteers are also needed in other protected areas. So you can find a wildlife refuge or national park near you and see if they invite volunteers.
Where else is it worth going? 🛤🚘🏕
