5 great eco-tourism volunteer opportunities

Volunteering on vacation can be a way to connect with the land you are visiting. In between beach days and museum tours, consider signing up to help a local environmental organization. Spending a few hours pulling weeds or cleaning trails will show you a new side of your destination. Here are five free volunteer opportunities that put the planet first.

Help reforest Honokowai Valley with Maui Cultural Lands in Hawaii

The work done by Maui Cultural Lands is rooted in the Hawaiian values of aloha (deep love and compassion), malama (properly caring for something) and kuleana (to be responsible). This nonprofit is dedicated to the reforestation of the Honokowai Valley, and volunteers can help by weeding invasive species and planting native plants and trees in their place. Every Saturday morning, volunteers get down in the dirt and participate in Honokowai Valley maintenance projects.

Build trails with the Truckee Donner Land Trust in California

The Truckee Donner Land Trust in California aims to protect “open space for nature, for people, forever,” and you can be part of its efforts. Volunteers sign up to spend part of the day doing trail work, like removing brush and making repairs, with tools provided. Over the last three decades, the land trust has preserved more than 40,000 acres of open space in the Truckee Donner region near Lake Tahoe.

Pick up trash with Keep Bermuda Beautiful in Bermuda

Keep Bermuda Beautiful teaches people ways to reduce waste and organizes monthly trash cleanups across the island, blending action with education. Once a month, volunteers can sign up to pitch in at one of those cleanups, with Keep Bermuda Beautiful equipping everyone with trash and recycling bags, litter pickers and disposable gloves. The organization also assembles two major annual events: the Great Big Bermuda Clean-Up during Earth Week in April and the International Coastal Cleanup in November.

Monitor coral reefs with CoralWatch in Australia

Multitaskers, this is your chance to shine. While snorkeling, scuba diving or reefwalking in Australia, you can also gather scientific data on coral bleaching and send it to CoralWatch, a citizen science program out of the University of Queensland. The organization sends volunteers charts that show the colors of bleached and healthy corals, with the swatches then compared to actual coral. The data is collected on a sheet and later submitted through CoralWatch’s website. The process is as simple as it is helpful.

Clean up litter with Trash Hero in Southeast Asia and Europe

Trash Hero, an organization dedicated to eliminating plastic pollution, has more than 100 chapters across Southeast Asia and in Europe that regularly remove trash on beaches and streets. Volunteers just have to register in advance, and show up on the big day — the chapters take care of cleaning materials. Anyone can join the Trash Hero movement, which calls on people to waste as little as possible while reusing as much as they are able.