9 of the best volunteering holidays in North America
North America's eco-volunteering opportunities can add life-changing experiences to your travels and teach you to care better for our planet, its many communities and creatures.
During a recent voyage through Canada’s high Arctic, I was shown evidence of the impact climate change is having upon our world. Our vessel, the Greg Mortimer, was sailing through the Northwest Passage, which throughout the 19th century became a holy grail to find a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Invariably the expeditions ran into heavy sea-ice. Ships were crushed and many lives lost.
A modern day sailing in summer through the passage is almost completely ice-free. The Arctic region, says NASA, lost 16% of its volume between 2019-2021 alone. We saw polar bears in poor condition, unable to hunt seals on ice that was no longer there. The Inuit, meanwhile, rely on ice for their hunting and fishing.
A few years back I also assisted in studying climate change as a paying eco-volunteer, joining a citizen science project in Canada’s northern Manitoba to help scientists measure subtle changes in vegetation. It was an exhilarating feeling being part of a process to inform a better understanding of climate change and what can be done to ameliorate it.
North America offers a slew of eco-volunteering opportunities such as those I have experienced, which can add life-changing experiences to your travels by creating friendships and learning new skills. From caring for animal and human welfare to protecting the environment, here are nine of the best eco-volunteering experiences in North America.
1. See the effects of Arctic climate change in Canada
Join scientists at the Northern Studies Centre in Churchill, the polar bear capital of the world, to gather invaluable long-term data helping to demonstrate how Arctic tundra ecosystems are being transformed by climate change. You’ll help out with fish and frog surveys and carry out quadrat analysis of the in-migration of warmth-preferring vegetation from the south. The study centre is a comfortable base and volunteers enjoy excursions to look for bears.
Prices start from $3,795 (£3,309) per person for 11 days. Next project takes place 7 February 2023.
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2. Learn about marine conservation in Baja California Sur, Mexico
The Sea of Cortez is one of the richest, most biodiverse on Earth. Inflowing nutrient-rich sediments attract a vast array of fish life and cetaceans, not least gregarious grey whales. Included in the price, volunteers learn how to scuba dive, enabling them to assist a permanent research team with underwater surveys to establish the ecological health of this truly special place. Accommodation is a guesthouse by the ocean.
Prices start from $2,395 (£2,089) for one week, with projects taking place all year.
READ MORE: 30 unmissable things to do in Mexico
3. Deliver children’s autism and horse therapy, USA
If’ you’re enamoured by all things equine, this is an opportunity to be surrounded by horses on a 200-acre Southern Mississippian ranch. Besides ample chances to ride, volunteers are involved with caring for the horses. But the rewarding thrust of a stay is helping deliver horse-based therapy for children with special needs, especially those with autism. The ranch has a shared volunteer house and days are eight hours long.
From $1,095 (£955) for one week and $1,695 (£1,479) for two weeks. Projects take place year round.
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4. Become a vegan farmhand in California, USA
Our consumption of animal products sparks debate about livestock rearing’s contribution to climate change and animal welfare ethics. This vegan farm project in Grass Valley in Northern California invites volunteers to care in a sanctuary for farmyard animals rescued from farms, research and slaughterhouses. You will join animal welfare activists looking after cows, sheep, chicken and pigs, now able to live out fulfilling lives. Farm accommodation provided.
Contributions start from €550 for minimum eight-week placements.
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5. Become a wildlife animal caretaker, Canada
Lovers of all creatures great and small, from chipmunks and racoons to black bears and bobcats, can volunteer at Critter Care Wildlife Society in Langley near Vancouver helping rescue wild animals to be subsequently released back into the wild. Volunteers perform tasks including the capture of sick or injured animals and bottle-feeding infant ones. Days are busy and the centre provides shared intern cabins for volunteers.
Prices start from $23 (£20) per week, with a minimum stay of four weeks. Projects are year round.
READ MORE: Where Ontario gets its name from and more interesting Canada facts
6. Caring for canines, Mexico
It’s always sad encountering street dogs, abandoned and desperate for love and attention. In the attractive city of Aguascalientes, volunteers assist in a number of tasks at a clinic specialising in street dogs’ vet care: caring for the dogs’ post-treatments, feeding and cleaning them and helping to find them new homes. Accommodation is with local families, ideal for improving or learning Spanish.
One week starts from CAD$1,410 (£912). Projects take place throughout the year.
animalexperienceinternational.com
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7. Protecting Olive Ridley turtles, Mexico
Along beautiful black sand beaches along Mexico’s Pacific coast, Olive Ridley turtles are declining rapidly, their eggs poached for food. Volunteers to this project in Cuyutlán join turtle conservationists helping to protect them during their egg-laying season. You will move eggs from nests to hatcheries to outmanoeuvre poachers and engage in beach patrols as the turtles come into nest. There may also be educational outreach work in the local communities. Beachside accommodation included.
Prices start from $2,470 (£2,153) for one week. Next project takes place June-September 2023
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READ MORE: Turtle conservation and beach clean-ups in Jamaica
8. Work on an organic farm, Canada
There is no question that organic chemical-free farming delivers benefits to the natural environment, especially to insect populations vital for pollination. With almost 700 farms registered in its Canadian program, Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) connects volunteers, called Wwoofers, to small organic farms requiring help. You do not require experience and free accommodation is provided – just simply roll up your sleeves and assist with tasks ranging from tending market gardens to animal husbandry.
Stay a couple of weeks or months with only a $40 (£35) annual joining fee to WWOOF required. Projects are year round.
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9. Tracking endangered sharks in Florida, USA
Shark species are under threat due to overfishing and ocean pollution. Florida possesses a great diversity of them, from hammerheads to tiger sharks, and on this project in Sarasota you’ll join scientists tagging different species and monitoring environmental conditions from a boat. The research helps inform the local fisheries and conservation lobby to make considered choices about their management in these warm Floridian waters. Accommodation is included.
Prices start from $2,995 (£2,606) for eight days. Next project takes place April 2-9 2023.
Hannes Klostermann / Alamy Stock Photo
READ MORE: The best travel jobs in the world right now
Lead image: Nick Polanszky/Alamy Stock Photo
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