Her interest in this was triggered after a holiday in Borneo visiting The Orang-utan Foundation.
Rachel said: "My time away made me realise that there are so many people who, in our terms, have nothing, doing so much good work, whether that be for a species, a forest or a group of people and I wanted to give something back."
On the understanding that she would be coming back, the IFP gave its full support for this adventure of a lifetime.
The IFP has appointed Melanie King to cover Rachel's work while she is away. Melanie will be working closely with Rachel until her departure in September.
Melanie's career to date has ranged from dealing with enquiries from individuals wanting to teach in Australia to organising a Hydropower conference in Bilbao and being a PA to two Superintendents at
Avon and Somerset Police in Bristol.
Melanie said: "I'm so pleased to have joined the IFP team. I'm learning so much from Rachel about the IFP's membership process, its members and branches and am looking forward to speaking with and meeting IFP members over the next few months."