Tropical forests are home to 6 million species, including some of the world's most enigmatic and endangered wildlife. They provide food, water and medicines, and act as carbon stores to help in the fight against climate change.
But tropical forests are in trouble. Every four seconds an area the size of a football pitch is chopped down for commercial gain.
We have spent more than 20 years working alongside our BirdLife partners to protect these amazing places and we've had some great successes. Our work in Harapan Rainforest in Sumatra saw a change in legislation meaning that management rights for areas of tropical forest could be purchased for conservation instead of logging and Gola Rainforest has now become Sierra Leone's second National Park. A new partnership with Tesco, called Together For Trees to help protect and restore rainforests in seven different countries across the globe will ensure we can continue to save threatened species, whilst safeguarding communities.
How are our volunteers and staff getting involved internationally?
VolunteersGethin Evans, Sorrel Jones & Frazer Sinclair volunteered to join a small team of Gola forest guards to establish baseline levels of illegal activity across the whole park, in a repeatable framework so that the extent of illegal activity can be reliably monitored over time. This data is necessary to measure and reflect the ongoing health of the national park and indeed the conservation programme itself.
This is what they had to say about their experience “Seven kilos of rice, five litres of water, three changes of clothes, one towel, hammock, sleeping bag, pan, torch, GPS computer, map and a compass, and ample insect repellent - just some of the contents of my twenty kg backpack as I step into another world- that of the forest guards of the RSPB Gola rainforest national park, Sierra Leone. The guards are at the forefront of conservation, working tirelessly to patrol the forest, protecting it against illegal activities such as poaching, mining, logging, and agricultural encroachment.”
“It is difficult to describe the atmosphere within the rainforest. It is both beautiful and brutal, inviting yet viciously foreboding. Above all it strikes me plainly as being unpredictable and wild in the upmost. There must be few true wildernesses left in the world and primary rainforests rank highly amongst them. The forest guards of Gola national park retain the hopes of us all in protecting this particular area.”
Once you leave the RSPB as a paid member of staff it seems there is no escape. Even our previous Chief Executive, Graham Wynne is involved - volunteering in Sumatra. He is a Patron of the Yayasan (foundation) responsible for the Harapan Rainforest conservation concession. He goes out there to provide technical/management advice.
Catherine Brewis, spent six months in the Gola rainforest in West Africa as a research volunteer. She says “My role was to monitor the endangered Diana monkeys of the Gola rainforest. These monkeys live high up in the trees, eating fruit, and their droppings help disperse seeds through the rainforest, making them crucial to the survival of the forest. Most people think about birds in connection with the RSPB, so it might seem strange that this was an RSPB project. But the best way to protect endangered birds around the world is to preserve their habitats, which is why the RSPB is helping to safeguard the rainforests.”
StaffJean Burns, who works in our Marketing Department as an Area Manager, Liaising with Membership Champions, Community Fundraising and other key staff in Scotland and the Midlands, we help deliver challenging targets for membership and other Community Marketing income streams.
RSPB Sabbaticals are a benefit for employees and for the RSPB. They provide an opportunity for personal development, and help develop a more flexible workforce.
Jean chose to take her sabbatical in Sumatra, the Harapan Rainforest. She says “A chance remark had me walking in the footsteps of harimau in the Harapan Rainforest of Sumatra. I was the first member of staff to take my sabbatical in Harapan”.
“My role was to produce and deliver a corporate induction course for all Harapan staff, as well as looking at how volunteers’ skills could be utilised. Since then, volunteers and staff on sabbatical have – upgraded HRI (Harapan Rainforest Initiative) website and content, built tree platforms to help conservation monitoring, built paths, set up and refined procedures, helped with PR in raising the profile of HRI within Indonesia.”
“The first question I’m asked is, what is it like working in the rainforest. Short answer is hot, sticky and wet, well it is a rainforest after all! It was fascinating to observe how different religions and cultures come together in Sumatra, and provided you adhere to their way of doing things (which could be ponderous at times), and show patience, the job does get done eventually. Harapan is the sort of place that gets under your skin; maybe it’s the gentle nature of the people on the whole; or maybe it’s due to the world importance of the work RSPB, BirdLife International and Burung Indonesia are doing. Given the opportunity I would volunteer to go back out. In the meantime I try and raise the profile of the importance of HRI by giving talks to groups, and anyone who will listen, by relating the tale of when I walked in the footsteps of harimau.”
If you are interested and want to find out more about our international volunteering opportunities
Find out more about the RSPB and Tesco partnership Together For Trees, and see how each small step you take can make a big difference!
For more information about the reach of the RSPB work internationally and our new rainforest pages.
No matter what you think you are, you are always and in all ways so much more!