Why volunteer with STA Travel?

It’s a sad truth that many well-intentioned volunteer projects can be mismanaged for profit rather than helping. We will only work with projects that have a positive impact, satisfying the needs of the host communities while also meeting the desires of travellers to make real contributions, train their mind to think creatively, and gain skills for future study and work.

We support projects in more than 30 countries. Whether you’re looking to teach English, work with communities, animals or clean up our planet, there’s something for everyone.

Our featured voluntourism projects

Teach Children in Nepal

Join the project lasting over three weeks to assist with English lessons and homework and choose to stay at a shared volunteer house. Optional activities include a trip to Pokhara, the second largest city in the country and cooking demonstrations.

Thai Elephant Conservation

Experience one of our best-selling volunteer projects which offer a peaceful home to more than 30 neglected and previously abused elephants — with options ranging from seven days to four weeks. Play an important role by preparing food, feeding them and assisting in maintenance of the park.

Make a Difference in Indonesia

Work alongside local communities to arrange beach clean-ups and monitor and nurse newborn animals in their living areas for four weeks. There are also two-month options including teaching in local schools and community visit opportunities.

Experience Borne o & Conserve Orang-utans

This one-month project is designed for volunteers to experience and help with rehabilitation (复兴) of orang-utans in Sarawak, which are large arboreal animals and the only great apes in Asia. What’s more, take part in a long adventurous walk into the rainforest to meet the Iban and experience a unique stay in traditional longhouses.

“For thousands of years, humans have raced to be the first to climb a peak, cross a frontier, or document a new species or landscape. Now in some cases, we’re racing to be the last,” said New York Times’ Paige McClanahan.

In recent years, a growing industry has been stimulated by climate change — last-chance tourism. According to Eco Sustainable Solutions, a UK-based organic recycling and waste processing company last-chance tourism is a kind of tourism geared toward seeing the last of something due to climate change. As temperatures and water levels rise, this could mean seizing the last chance to see the Great Barrier Reef, an Arctic glacier and a remote island that is sinking.

As millions of tourists rush to imperiled destinations, some are taking advantage of the increasing demand to spread environmental awareness. One tourist spot, the Sea of Ice in France, opened an exhibit in 2021 to educate visitors on glaciers and climate change. This educational push seems to be having an impact, as a 2023 survey showed that 80% of the visitors would try to learn more about the environment and how to protect it while 77% said that they would reduce their water and energy use.

However, the last-chance tourism industry may become kind of our concern. As more and more people flood into these areas in a panic to see them before they are gone, they in fact contribute to the increased greenhouse gas emissions and over tourism, leading to their destruction. Just as many scholars put it, last-chance tourism is a paradox (悖论).

Although tourists may acknowledge the broader risks and importance of climate change, it’s even more important to connect the responsibility of the individual tourism to the future of our planet. It’s not just about understanding the need to stop climate change; it’s even more important to avoid making it worse.

The high intelligence levels of orangutans (红毛猩猩) have long been recognised, partly due to their practical skills such as using tools to crack nuts and search for insects. But new research suggests the primate (灵长动物) has another handy skill: applying medicinal herbs intentionally to an open wound.

A male Sumatran orangutan known as Rakus was observed by the research team with a fresh facial wound in June 2022. Three days later, Rakus was witnessed feeding on the stem and leaves of a plant. Thirteen minutes after Rakus had started feeding on it, he began chewing the leaves without swallowing them, then used his fingers to apply the resulting juice directly on to his facial wound. He repeated this behavior for seven minutes and at last fully covered the wound with the chewed leaves. He then continued feeding on the plant for 30 minutes. Over the following days, there were no signs of infection. The wound closed within five days and was healed, with only a faint scar remaining after one month.

It is not the first time wild primate species have been spotted self-medicating: among other examples, Bornean orangutans have been seen rubbing their arms and legs with chewed leaves from a plant used by humans to treat sore muscles, while chimpanzees have been recorded chewing plants known to treat worm infections and applying insects to wounds. However, the new discovery is the first time a wild animal has been observed treating open wounds with a substance known to have medicinal properties. “In the chimpanzee case they used insects and unfortunately it was never found out whether these insects really promote wound healing. Whereas in our case, the orangutan used the plant, and this plant has known medical properties,” said Dr Caroline Schuppli, senior author of the research.

Rakus’s goal-oriented behavior and the medicinal properties of his chosen treatment offer insight into the origins of human wound care-the treatment of which was first mentioned in a medical manuscript dating to 2200BC. “It definitely shows that these basic cognitive capacities that you need to come up with a behaviour like this were present at the time of our last common ancestor most likely,” said Schuppli.

It remains unclear whether Rakus figured the process out for himself or learned it from another orangutan, although it has not been seen in any other individual.