The community of Camarones is a small agricultural community, on the coast of Ecuador, located at the edge of a rare and highly endangered tropical rainforest and only 7 km from the Pacific Ocean, is located the Jama-Coaque Reserve occupies 165 hectares (415 acres) of tropical rainforest and cloud forest in one of the most vulnerable and spectacular bioregions on earth. This project offer volunteer opportunities in three areas:

1. Ecuadorian Coastal Community Kids Project:
Children of the community of Camarones face limited educational opportunities, and their current education does not adequately address the reality that they live amongst a remarkably bio-diverse and endangered ecosystem, which offers both unique opportunities and challenges. Education and the awakening to new concepts and ideas will open a door for them into a complex planet with greater opportunities, and will give them a few initial but crucial tools for a more dynamic individual and social development.

2. Tropical Agroforestry and Sustainable Economic Solutions Project:
The primary economic activities in the community of Camarones include unsustainable practices such us deforestation for cattle ranching, slash-and-burn agriculture, and illegal logging. Secondary economic activities include harvesting of wild tagua, wild freshwater shrimp (sometimes by using toxins), and cultivation of banana, coffee, cacao, and passion fruit. The people of Camarones are increasingly conscious of the negative effects (both ecological and economic) of forest clearing and degradation, but rationalize these activities on the basis of a lack of economic alternatives and training. The rainforest that is adjacent to their community is one of the most ecologically diverse and endangered ecosystems on earth.

The community of Camarones is thus in need of sustainable economic alternatives, and the assistance to implement these alternatives, in accordance to a well-organized and realistic plan of action. This assistance can be provided by volunteers with strong entrepreneurial and organizational skills, combined with a willingness to get one’s hands dirty and work side by side with community members. This will greatly facilitate the process of shifting from current unsustainable practices to a more balanced and sustainable form of development, which will simultaneously improve local quality of life, help preserve the last remnants of rainforest, and increase local and global natural capital.

3. Coastal Rainforest Conservation at the Jama-Coaque Reserve Project:
The rainforest, cloud forest and dry forest inside and around the Jama-Coaque Reserve is one of the last remnants of one of most bio-diverse and valuable ecosystems on the planet (called the Chocó Manabí Biological Corridor). The survival of this ecosystem has important implications not only for the planet and humanity, but especially for local communities. The forest produces local rainfall, sustains the local rivers, and protects and enriches the soil, and if deforestation continues, the community will lose access to water and fertile soil, and their economy will fail. The forest also harbors a tremendous amount of endangered species, including 5 species of predatory cats, two species of endangered monkeys, and unknown numbers of birds, amphibians, and insects. The work of preserving this forest, and integrating it with the local economy, requires as many hands on deck as possible.