Peru: Environmental Multimedia Internship

Introduction

This internship set in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon offers you the opportunity to actively participate in important conservation and sustainable community development initiatives. We offer a career development programme designed to provide you with a deeper level of engagement in not-for-profit conservation work where you will gain extensive practical experience in field techniques and leadership skills, enabling you to effectively advance your career and ability to make a difference. You will be immersed in a structured learning course which is delivered via one-on-one mentoring and numerous training workshops. We focus also on the professional and personal skills which will prove immensely valuable when you go on to apply for jobs and further your career.

Founded in 2002, our Foundation has worked to establish sustainable practices throughout the Amazon. True sustainability encompasses all areas of life in the rainforest – people, plants and wildlife. We take a holistic approach which values environmental stewardship; we look at real issues faced by local people and try to develop practical, sustainable alternatives. We envision a sustainable Amazon where education and learning is the forefront for driving understanding and change. The Amazon is under constant threat from many processes that cause habitat destruction such as logging, agriculture and mining. Our sustainable initiative projects provide alternative forms of income that can help protect the rainforest as well as give people a livelihood. This means that we help protect one of the most biodiverse places in the world, preventing the extinction of species, and other associated effects of rainforest destruction, such as climate change.

Our Multimedia Internship offers you the experience to develop your skills providing Environmental Communications in the heart of the rainforest. This internship is designed to help you further your career and give an in-depth insight into environmental, social and economic issues, while providing practical workshops and field-based training in multimedia skills – from writing and marketing to photography and filmmaking.

Aims

At the start of your three month internship, you will travel to the Reserve. This is where you will learn about the challenges and solutions to protecting the rainforest by working alongside scientists and conservationists.

While gaining these invaluable insights, you will be trained by a professional Media Intern Leader who will teach you to tell compelling environmental stories through written, photographic and film media.

This internship programme has been created to help school leavers, recent graduates and career breakers develop specific multimedia skills in environmental communications through hands-on expert training. By the end of the internship, you will have a portfolio of work that will showcase your written, photographic and video skills to future employers.

Beyond the career development, we have designed the Multimedia Internship programme to give you a truly inspirational rainforest experience, based at our research and educational hub, the Manu Learning Centre. You will stay in jungle lodges and have up-close wildlife encounters, while living and working with a team of like-minded people – united in our passion to create a sustainable Amazon, where nature and people thrive.

Itinerary

Below is an example itinerary detailing what you’ll be doing during your three month internship.

Week 1:
Day 1 -Cusco – Airport collection and acclimatisation
Day 2 -Cusco – Registration & Orientation
Day 3 -Travel – Cusco to the cloud forest, overnight in the cloud forest
Day 4 – Arrive at the project
Day 5 – Conservation research introduction
Day 6 – Community project introduction & Welcome Party
Day 7 – Day off

Week 2: Conservation and community project introduction and training

Week 3: Photography workshops and assignments

Week 4: Writing workshops and assignments

Week 5: Filmmaking workshops and assignments

Week 6: Podcast workshops and assignments

Week 7: Portfolio preparation and assignments

Week 8: Issues & Debates workshops and assignments

Week 9: Career Development workshops and assignments

Week 10: Photography and film post-production

Week 11: Presentations & Public Speaking workshops and assignments

Week 12: Portfolio creation and presentations.

Week 13: Travel from MLC to Cusco.

Daily life in the rainforest

In the rainforest the day starts and ends early to make the most of available daylight. You’ll adapt to your new rhythm in the rainforest within your first week.

The projects you will undertake combine a mixture of mental and physical challenges, one day you might find yourself trekking through the rainforest trying to film threatened Peruvian woolly monkeys, the next you will be interviewing people from the community about how they are dealing with the threats to their land.

The work we do here is very physically demanding. There are long days in the rainforest with high temperatures and humidity and difficult walking conditions. We therefore ask that you are able to easily walk 10km carrying a 10kg pack within 4 hours before you come here.

If you’re enthusiastic, hands on and keen then you’ll have a great time pushing yourself with these challenges. Our friendly, experienced staff will always be on hand to help and guide, so please don’t be afraid to ask

Below is an example of a typical day, but this will vary depending on the media project that you are working on:

5:30am – Up before sunrise to photograph and film on the beach where the research team monitor macaws.

7am – Breakfast

7:30am – Trek into the forest to photograph and film the butterfly survey work.

12:30pm – Lunch

1-2pm – Rest

2-5pm – Multimedia workshop & Spanglish lessons whilst helping with dinner in the kitchen

6.30pm – Dinner

8.00pm – Night-time photography field work.

9.30pm – Return to lodge. Shower, hot chocolate, then bed!

Please note: These are sample itineraries and are subject to change.

Project Focus

Our vision is of creating a sustainable Amazon where humankind and nature can support one another through balance, respect and innovation. Our projects have a dual approach; research that focuses on the rainforest conservation and sustainable initiatives where we work with local communities.

The Manu Biosphere is one of the most biodiverse places in the world, with millions of species living in an area the size of Wales or Connecticut. In Manu, we have a great opportunity to study conservation and biodiversity issues on micro and macro scales; from endemic species that are not found anywhere else on Earth, to a large ecosystem approach. By studying animal distribution, ecology and behaviour we can begin to understand the relationship between the forest and the wildlife. But this alone is not enough to save the rainforest.

The people that live in Manu face issues of poverty and lack of medical facilities. In trying to provide for their families, people can end up in dangerous, unsustainable jobs like slash-and-burn agriculture and illegal logging. Our community projects were set up to investigate and provide alternative, safe, sustainable ways to earn their money and feed their families.

Conservation

Standing beneath the canopy of a pristine rainforest is a rare and unforgettable experience. Stretching as far as you can see the plants, insects, mammals and birds exist in a delicately balanced ecosystem. Yet human destruction of the rainforest is happening at such an alarming rate that these pristine environments are being heavily disturbed and sometimes utterly decimated.

As agricultural and industrial activities move into new areas to exploit the rainforests’ natural resources, the biological value of regenerating forests is becoming increasingly important. Our research programme, funded by the Darwin Initiative and run in partnership with universities such as Glasgow and Oxford, examines how the diversity of life can return if we promote and nurture successful rainforest regeneration. We investigate three main areas:

1. Biodiversity
2. Ecosystem-Services
3. Socio-economics

Our aim is to understand what happens when a patch of destroyed rainforest is left alone, when the jungle is allowed to reclaim it and life slowly returns? We are uniquely placed to investigate this as our reserve was once farmland and for over a decade it has been naturally regenerating. But what does rainforest protection and regeneration mean for local people?

Community

We work with local communities in Manu to create sustainable income that meets the challenges faced by remote rainforest towns. Poverty and lack of access to higher education in Manu forces many families into unsustainable work such as illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, and mining. Not only are these often dangerous and unhealthy, with little financial return, they also contribute to rainforest destruction.

Our community team empowers local people by giving them the skills, knowledge and resources to establish micro-enterprises, like agroforestry plots and biogardens. This provides them with a much needed alternative income so that they can feed their children without destroying the rainforest.

We also provide environmental education for school children and give them the opportunity to visit our nature reserve. Despite living in one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, local people do not often get the chance to venture into the forest and become inspired by up-close wildlife encounters and the beauty of the natural world.

We offer local students the opportunity to explore the forest, meet people from different cultures and participate in conservation research activities so that they learn to revalue the rainforest and better understand how the rainforests’ resources can be used sustainably.

As a media intern, you will work alongside our scientific research and community development teams to get an in-depth insight into the environmental, social and economic challenges facing the Amazon. At the same time, you will be trained in the skills needed to turn this knowledge into compelling multimedia stories.

Logistics

You will share a room with up to three others and will receive fresh bedding each week, as well as a mosquito net. Internet access in such a remote location means that access can be sporadic and at times unreliable. If you do get the chance in your busy schedule to write home via the internet it is a chargeable service, $5USD per hour if using solar power.

Food and packed lunches are provided three times a day and is typical local fare; rice with a sauce, vegetables, soups, occasional meat. Dietary restrictions can be catered for but must be accurately and clearly stated on the application form.

Requirements

• Minimum age 18.
• Minimum 3 months commitment.
• Able to work in a hot (and often wet) tropical climate
• Able to walk at least 10km per day whilst carrying personal daily supplies
• Enjoy being outdoors all day in all types of weather
• Enjoy being outdoors in the potential presence of wild and possibly dangerous animals, snakes, and insects.
• Get low enough to access and collect samples on the ground
• Relevant academic background
• Basic English language skills.
• Necessary vaccinations
• Necessary flight & visas.
• Full travel & medical insurance – full assistance provided in arranging everything you will need if you choose our Premium Support

You will also need to bring;

• Laptop.
• Camera with video capabilities.
• Basic editing software for photographs and videos.

Costs

$5,100 USD for a 3 month placement

What is included

• 24 hour in-country support, airport collection and drop-off in Cusco, Peru Accommodation in Cusco, the cloud forest, and the Manu Learning Centre
• 3 hearty meals a day
• All transport between Cusco and the rainforest, and to project work within the rainforest First Aid and CPR training and certification in remote rainforest environment
• Training and participation in all projects you will be involved in
• Mentoring sessions to keep you on track with your objectives
• The chance to work at a tropical research centre alongside experienced research staff

Note that Spanish language is not a requirement for the internship however it is highly recommend that you take lessons to become at least conversational.

What is NOT included

• Flights
• Visas (if applicable)
• Vaccinations
• Travel Insurance
• Personal spending

Premium Support Upgrade

We understand there’s a great deal to plan and organise for your trip. When booking a Placement, many of our participants choose to purchase our Premium Support Upgrade to benefit from the expertise, knowledge and experience of our Project Coordinators.

We can provide the personal advice you need to ensure your trip is organised with excellence and planned with efficiency; ensuring the very best experience possible. Read more about how we can help you.