The rain forests of the world are in extreme danger.  Did you know that the rain forest biome actually has more than half of the earth’s plant and animal species?  Humans have gained from rain forests through a number of foods, such as bananas, cashews, and avocados, as well as medicines for leukemia, hypertension, and arthritis.  It is important to keep the rain forest alive and well because of the variety of rain forest animals, the trees producing oxygen, and the variety of plants that may be producing foods or medicines for us.  It is hard for us to fathom, but there are actually between 20,000 and 100,000 species of rain forest animals becoming extinct every year in the rain forest.  To put into perspective how much rain forest is being cut down, there is an area the size of a football field being destroyed every second.  That fact is almost unbelievable to think about.  Experts estimate than in about 30 years, 20% of all species on the planet could be destroyed if more efforts are not made to save the rain forest.  This is a possibility that we do not want to see happen.  

Volunteer Opportunities:  If you are interested in saving the rain forest, you may wish to contact Save the Rain Forest in Costa Rica for volunteer opportunities to visit the rain forests, direct action, and education.  Participants can also help with plant conservation and research projects. 

     Because of the demand for ivory, poaching, and habitat loss, Asian and African elephants’ populations have begun to decrease.  About seventy years ago, Africa was the home to five to ten million wild elephants, but in 1989, only about 600,000 remained.  They are now only found in the wild in small areas of the Sahara.  In Asia, the risk to Asian elephants is even greater.  The Asian elephant population has been reduced to herds of about 35,000 to 50,000.  Fortunately there are organizations, such as Save the Elephants, who create elephant sanctuaries.  They also teach elephant protection, wildlife conservation, and management to residents. 

Volunteer Opportunities:  You can volunteer with Responsible Travel, which offers elephant conservation programs in Sri Lanka.  Volunteers will be able to study Asian elephants and help develop management approaches for elephants for the local residents.  In Thailand there is the Elephant Nature Park, which has volunteers assisting with care of the elephants, ranging from basic health care to bathing the elephants.  A program called Global Vision needs volunteers who can help to track desert elephants and work on community programs in the northwestern regions of the Namib Desert of Africa.  There is also an elephant conservation program near Durban, South Africa, which encourages student volunteers. 

     Did you know that during the 1800s, there were likely more than 2 million wild horses and burros that were roaming the American West?  Many of these wild horses and burros were slaughtered in attempts to increase the numbers of livestock and cattle.  In 1971, the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed, which gave federal protection to the wild horses and burros of this country.  However, by then their numbers had already decreased to around 60,000.  A rider was included in the federal budget in 2004 that allowed for the capture of thousands of wild horses and burros.  Now the federal government estimates that there are about 35,000 wild horses left on public lands.  These animals are rounded up and put up for public adoption by the Bureau of Land Management.  Wild horses and burros that are over ten years old and have failed to be adopted three times are then sold for slaughter and consumption overseas. 

Volunteer Opportunities:  The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary is the home to the grandest heard of wild horses in North America, with around 500 wild mustangs and foals in its care.  It is located in the Black Hills Region of South Dakota.  The mission of the sanctuary is to provide homes for unadoptable and unwanted wild horses.  If you are interested in volunteering, you must be at least 21 years old and you must be willing to stay to volunteer for at least one month.  Volunteers are needed for hands on ranch work, giving tours, and even office work.  A second volunteer opportunity is with the Wild Burro Rescue and Preservation Project, which has a mission of rescuing, rehabilitating, and caring for wild burros which have been subject to lethal removal by shooting.  This organization is located in Olancha, California.  It participates in live rescues of wild burros and cares for those burros at its sanctuary.  In exchange for room and board, volunteers provide their own transportation.  Another horse sanctuary, called the Wild Horse Sanctuary, is located in Shingletown, California.  It is home to about 200 wild horses and wild burros that have been captured by government agencies.  This sanctuary is also involved in research on birth control techniques for wild horses that could assist with the management of horse populations.  The Wild Horse Sanctuary is in special need of volunteers with carpentry skills and experiences with horses and tack.  A last opportunity for volunteering with horses and burros is Return to Freedom, which is an organization that runs the American Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc, California.  Volunteers are needed here for any length of time, and some of the jobs needs are in landscaping, carpentry, ranch work, and equine care. 

     Scientists have noticed the decline in the number of migratory bird species over the past two decades.  There are two reasons why they believe these numbers have declined.  First, there has been a destruction of the tropical forests where many birds spend their winters.  Secondly, there has been a disruption to their breeding and stopover habitats, particularly in coastal areas.  Rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and encroachment by humans have all lead to a serious threat to migratory birds.  Additionally, other reasons may be to blame, such as hunters, predators, bad weather, and collisions.  In fact, around 100 million birds are killed in the United States after crashing into windows or from exhaustion after becoming disoriented by lighted buildings.  Another danger to migratory birds has been exposure to pesticides, which can cause reproductive problems and death.  There are a number of state, federal, and public nonprofit organizations that track and preserve migratory bird populations. 

Volunteer Opportunities:  Did you know that the National Audubon Society has over 500 chapters?  They may need volunteers.  The Canadian Migration Monitoring Network has over 20 migration monitoring stations that are in need of volunteers.  The North American Migration Count needs volunteers to gather information about the progress of spring migration of birds and on the numbers and distribution of migratory birds.  The International Shorebird Survey needs volunteers to count the shorebirds during the autumn and spring migrations in 35 countries and commonwealths.  Dungeness Bird Observation focuses on migration studies in the United Kingdom.  It has a ringing program and helps train ringers.

Help Save the Rhinoceros. 

      It is hard to believe, but more than 90 percent of the rhino population has disappeared since 1970, and hundreds of species of rhinos have been reduced now to only five species.  Rhinoceros conservation projects are struggling to keep extinction under control.  Today there are fewer than 16,000 rhinos left.  In fact, one of the five species has less than 300 individual rhinos remaining, and the most endangered, the Javan rhino has decreased to only about 50 individuals in the world.  Much of the loss of rhinos in recent years is due to habitat destruction.  However, much of the current decline is due to hunting.  The horns of the rhino have been prized in Eastern cultures for medicines and also for dagger handles in the Middle East.  One rhinoceros horn can bring tens of thousands of dollars for poachers.  This causes poaching to be the greatest threat to rhinoceros.  The focus for saving the rhinos is on conservation.  Volunteer Opportunities:  A program called SOS Rhino works to save the Sumatran rhino in Borneo.  It is located in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.  Volunteers for this program are needed to write reports, assist with fundraising, help with research, and improve the English skills of the field staff.  If you are interested in volunteering, you must be willing to stay for at least a week and be physically fit.  The Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary has been created by Rhino Fund Uganda in order to reintroduce black and white rhinos into that area.  If you are interested, the minimum stay is for four weeks, and all training is provided.  Another program, called African Impact, offers opportunities for volunteers to assist with black rhino conservation in Zimbabwe.  These volunteers will help with research duties on the 10,000 acre conservancy at Imire Safari Ranch.  The stays normally last about three weeks to a month.  Another opportunity to help the rhinos is with the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi National Park in South Africa, which has about 10 percent of the black rhino population.  The Black Rhino Research Programme provides hands on research and conservation assistance which includes observation, radio tracking, and assistance with rhinoceros capture and release efforts.  Finally EarthWatch Institute has fifteen day expeditions to the Sweetwaters Black Rhino Reserve in Kenya, with the goal of bringing the black rhino away from extinction.  Volunteers are needed to gather data and take long treks through the brush in Kenya. 

Protect Endangered Animals. 

     There are nearly 800 species that have already disappeared from the planet.  Some of the reasons for this is human overpopulation, hunting, introduction of nonnative species, and habitat destruction.  There are actually more than 1,000 animal species that are endangered.  Some of these species of animals include elephants, great apes, snow leopards, polar bears, and marine turtles.  Nearly 500 of these threatened or endangered animal species live in the United States.  We often don’t consider that protecting endangered species is not just critical for that species' survival, but also for other species as well, since they may prey on other species that could become overpopulated without them, or they are food for predators, which may die without a food supply.  There are many projects in existence to help with endangered animals, such as in the areas of feeding, reforestation, coral reef research, helping with wildlife rescues, monitoring nesting, conducting tours for visitors, working with school children on environmental projects, and cleaning cages or building new cages.  Some of the efforts have achieved success, such as with bald eagles, grizzly bears, and gray whales. 

Volunteer Opportunities:  There are many organizations that are in need of volunteers, such as Biosphere Expeditions, Global Volunteer Network, Wildlife Friends of Thailand, i-to-i, Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, and EarthWatch, among others.  Please do what you can to help.  Thank you.