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Actions for biodiversity

The different types of conservation volunteering and the roles they play in supporting local environments

All around the world, over 1 billion volunteers help nonprofits and charities to fulfil their missions and to help make the world a better place for all.

There are many different types of volunteering. Conservation volunteering involves people in taking action to protect, conserve, and restore nature. That includes taking part in beach clean-ups to remove litter from the coastline, helping to plant new trees to restore native biodiversity in important areas for conservation like wetlands, and getting involved in helping to protect threatened species from extinction.

The impacts of conservation volunteering can have many benefits for individual species of plants and animals and the health of ecosystems. It can also help to build climate resilience and provide communities with clean air, clean water, and a range of other valuable ecosystem services.

Conservation volunteering provides many benefits for the local environment. There is also increasing recognition of its benefits for mental wellbeing, physical health, and its ability to foster a sense of community.

Below we explain the different types of conservation volunteering opportunities offered by Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA), how you can get involved, and what impact these activities have on local environments.

What does conservation volunteering involve?

Conservation volunteering with CVA is a fun, purposeful activity that’s open to anyone. We offer a wide range of organised volunteer events across Australia and ways to get involved in supporting conservation work online and at home.

These are different types of conservation volunteering activities you can take part in with CVA:

In addition to creating positive action for the environment, we’re also actively building a community of Nature Stewards.

We recognise the important role that volunteering can play in place-making, community-building, helping people make new connections, reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness, and enhance mental health and well-being, and physical health.

What’s the impact of conservation volunteering?

Conservation volunteering typically involves helping nonprofit organisations to fulfil their missions and create a positive impact on nature. Our mission of empowering people to take action for nature, has helped CVA foster a thriving community of Nature Stewards.

Since 1982 more than 200,000 people have come together to support thousands of CVA projects to protect and enhance nature. The millions of small, individual actions for nature that CVA has fostered and coordinated over the past 40 years have resulted in significant impact.

Our volunteers have cumulatively dedicated over 918,595 days of stewardship to over 10,376 field project sites. We’ve planted over 19,292,050 trees and helped over 100 threatened species. And we’re just getting started.

By 2030, we aim to create another one million actions for nature.

We invite everyone in Australia to join our conservation community and get involved in our conservation volunteering efforts.

How conservation volunteering can boost health, wellness, and quality of life

Our recent articles have shown how conservation volunteering is linked to supporting physical wellbeing, how it can support mental wellbeing, and how it can combat feelings of loneliness by creating a sense of community.

In addition, the Bupa Pulse Check 2024 report shows that people who spend time outdoors and in nature are more likely to have good or excellent overall quality of life. And, as connections with others is a key driver impacting mental health, conservation volunteering – which is an opportunity to meet other like-minded people – can help to provide a solution for feelings of loneliness and eco-anxiety. And, at the same time it can also support physical fitness through activities like beach clean-ups or planting Nature Blocks.

How to get involved in conservation volunteering in Australia?

There are many ways you can get involved in making an impact on nature in Australia.

In recognition of the many mental wellbeing, physical health, and environmental health benefits of volunteering, we launched our Nature Blocks™️ initiative, in partnership with the Bupa Foundation.

By downloading the CVA App you can join a community of Nature Stewards and find information on how to create a Nature Block as well as take part in the new SeaToSource Plastic Waste Challenge!

You can also sign up for a range of exciting volunteer events across Australia via the CVA website or the CVA app.

We hope you will join us!

Disclaimer: This website does not provide medical advice. The content on this site is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice.