As an activity, volunteering refers to the act of one individual putting at somebody else’s cause for no personal gain at all, nor monetary, professional, material, or social, purely out of the desire to help somebody else without expecting anything in return. Volunteering efforts do carry benefits to the volunteers themselves, but this comes in the form of experience in the labor performed, chances to make contacts with other professionals and simply the self-satisfaction of having done well by someone else. Some volunteers are trained in-depth for specific areas they will work, be it education, medicine, elderly care, or emergency rescue services.

Environmental volunteer comprehends a series of specific actions to be undertaken for the conservation and management of environments that serve as habitats for flora and faunas that could be severely deteriorated if prudent precautions are not undertaken. Endangering species capture and relocation, planting of new vegetation, conditioning of terrain, and environmental monitoring are some of the most important activities they perform.

Due to the fact that their activities are basically the same, state services and volunteers  clash with one another regarding who actually gets to perform the services where, when, and how. To ease tension, government bodies create comprehensive legislation that extensively indicates the roles each entity should assume when working on proximity.