We offer throughout the year Missions d'Ecovolontariat to help us protect the Makay massif.

If you share our values and feel concerned about the causes we fight for, come and join us in the field ! Not only will you help protect biodiversity and provide better living conditions to remote communities, or live a moment out of time, make unforgettable encounters, observe wonderful animals and exercise yourself by exploring one of the most beautiful places on the planet, our ecovolunteer missions are made for you!

Why come with us ?

• Nos missions permettent de découvrir le Makay, un des plus beaux endroits de la planète, accompagné de ses plus fins connaisseurs.
• They ensure you will be able to watch several species of lemurs.
• Elles permettent de vivre une déconnexion et un ressourcement rare et bénéfique to the rhythm of nature and the songs of forest birds, an experience of intense and unforgettable life.
• They teach you a lot about nature, about Malagasy culture, but also about the environmental and societal challenges of developing countries, as well as about the daily life of a conservation association.
• They allow rich encounters and open the door to very strong friendships.
• Elles peuvent entrer dans le cadre d’un stage de fin d’études if you are a student.
• Elles peuvent être financées par des donateurs, via le crowdfunding.

Or because you’re fed up with living outside the law ;-) Indeed, the charter of the environment in the French Constitution declares that the environment is the common heritage of humankind and that "everyone has a duty to take part in preserving and improving [it]".

Nos missions permettent de faire un « voyage utile » : depuis 2012, les missions écovolontaires que mène Naturevolution ont permis le financement d’une part importante de nos activités de conservation et d’aide aux communautés du Makay.

Where do we work ?

Since 2010, Naturevolution works in the Makay massif, situé au Sud-Ouest de Madagascar.

How we work

Our projects in the Makay aim at protecting on the long term the natural environment of the Makay and developing ways for local people live better and in harmony with their environment. Some projects are carried out in the heart of the massif while others take place in the surrounding villages, a few hours' walk from the Makay canyons.

We offer 3 types of ecovolunteers missions, different times of the year :

• Solidarity and support to local development
  These missions focus on environmental awareness, education, income-generating activities such as beekeeping (hive construction) and ecotourism, the creation of vegetable gardens and nurseries, waste cleaning, etc. These missions take place in or near villages. Learn more about our solidarity missions with local development.
• citizen science
  These missions are designed to carry, with researchers tracking operations or inventory the biodiversity of Makay, to assist researchers in their work and even carry out archaeological surveys or improve mapping Makay. These missions take place from a fixed base camp established in the massif. Learn more about our citizen science missions.
• scientific exploration
  These missions are designed to search for missing cash or rarely observed, as well as an inventory of archaeological sites in the Makay. They take place when roaming in the mountains and we also improve our knowledge of the massive remote places and to keep a watch. Learn more about our scientific exploration missions.

Sur toutes nos missions, environ deux tiers de votre temps sur le terrain seront consacrés aux projets. Le reste sera dédié à la découverte du paradis encore largement inexploré du Makay lors de trekkings accompagnés par nos spécialistes.

To note :

• La définition des actions menées lors de ces missions n’est précisée que deux mois avant chaque mission : d’une part parce que nous nous adaptons aux besoins les plus urgents et aux priorités du moment, et d’autre part parce que cela dépend du nombre d’ecovolontaires inscrits.
• Naturevolution se garde le droit de modifier l’ordre et la liste des actions à mener lors des missions, jusqu’au jour du départ, afin de s’adapter aux besoins et aux évènements imprévus.

How do we live on the ground?

• We camp under individual tents
• Volunteer work is done usually outdoor (or, in case of rain, which is extremely rare at this season, under large expedition tents brought by Naturevolution)
• Nous mangeons des produits ramenés de Tana, agrémentés des produits locaux amenés par les villageois (selon la saison : mangues, bananes, tomates, moutons, dindes, poulets, pintades, potamochères, etc.). Chacun doit participer à l’élaboration des repas et à la vaisselle,
• We drink water from the rivers : the water comes straight out of the rocks, and we either filter it or boil it,
• A few beers and soft drinks can be found in the villages,
• Dry toilets and showers are set up in the forest.

Cette vie dans la nature s’avère relativement confortable et surtout source d’amitiés et de bonnes tranches de rigolade.

Who are the ecovolunteers?

We welcome all applications, regardless of age (starting from 18, or less if parents are present), skills or nationality, without any discrimination.

"Enthusiasm and motivation are all that matter."

No scientific background nor any diploma is required.

If you are a student, you can make your participation in our missions count as a required internship.

Some activities require a good physical condition, others call for being creative, and some ask for educational skills. Let us know your skills and your wishes and we'll do our best to offer activities that match.

The only requirements are that you are:

• examined by a doctor before departure to ensure good physical condition
• able to speak French or English
• smiling and easy to live with

How long are the missions?

Nous privilégions des missions de 3 semaines

but also offer some rare shorter missions (2 weeks). And for more fun, it is possible to stay for up to 6 weeks!

This time is considered from Paris to Paris. Your presence on Malagasy soil will be respectively 13 days to travel 2 weeks, 20 days for travel 3 weeks or even 41 days for travel 6 weeks.

Be aware also that the lavish travel between the capital Antananarivo and the steep Makay can take only four days return when we go in northern Makay seasonally dry but can last much longer because of the runway conditions and the distance of the proposed work site. We prefer of course the shortest paths for the 2-week missions.

“Almost everything was new to me. Too many positive aspects to list them all, but among others the exceptional and preserved environment of human pollution, and the learning of resourcefulness. "

– Ecovolunteer testimony, avril 2019 (mission explo)

Mission dates

Find a description of the different types of mission in the paragraph How we work and a detailed description of the tasks on the corresponding pages: Support to local development ; Participatory science ; scientific exploration.

You will find below the dates for each type of mission. You can use the filters available to refine your search (search for example "August" or "November 2020").

A noter:

• The departures of our missions are guaranteed from 4 participants.
• It is possible to participate in a combination of different missions and thus discover different aspects of our activities. For more information, please contact us via the form below.

Are you up for it? So Get in touch! !

Mission prices

A noter:

• If you sign up for 2, rates are reduced by 8%, and 12% from 3 persons (except for already reduced prices).

Distribution of the trip cost

Tax exemption

The full cost of your mission, including airfare, is défiscalisable up to 66% for an individual of 75% if you are subject to the IFI and 60% for companies.
All tax exemption information can be found in the ‘other questions’ section below.

Crowdfunding

Dreaming but broke? Consider crowdfunding!
We offer a dedicated crowdfunding platform and personalized coaching to help you raise the necessary funds from your friends and networks or through fundraising events (craft sales, screenings, etc.).

Other questions

How do I register?

If you are interested in one of our ecovolunteer missions, please complete the pre-registration form below. We will come back to you as soon as possible to explain you how our missions usually take place, give you the details on how to proceed before departure, a list of equipment to bring with you and give you all the details to benefit from tax exemption.

One more question ?