Endangered wildlife conservation, Zululand, South Africa
| country: | South Africa | ||||
| location: | South Africa wildlife reserves | ||||
| departures: | 2009: 23 Nov, 7 Dec, 21 Dec 2010: 4 Jan, 18 Jan, 1 Feb, 15 Feb, 1 Mar, 15 Mar, 29 Mar | ||||
| price: | From €950 - €1,700 (2-4 weeks) excluding flights. Price includes accommodation at the camp, all meals and training. Longer stays can be arranged from €700 per 2 weeks spent after 4 weeks
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| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
The Endangered Species Monitoring Programme:
We personally initiate, implement and manage the Endangered Species Monitoring programmes on reserves that don’t have the means to do so themselves. Our programmes are responsible for important wildlife research, working with amongst other animals, Black Rhino, Cheetah, Wild dog, Lion, Elephant, Leopard and Hyena.
As a volunteer you will be actively involved the hands-on conservation work we do including:
Endangered species tracking, via radio telemetry equipment GPS mapping of sightings The creation and updating of identity kits Animal behavioural research Game counts
Activities that occur regularly are:
Radio collaring animals Tagging of animals Relocation, re-introduction of game Bird ringing Alien plant control
We are looking for people who want their contribution to be directly and effectively utilised in genuine conservation efforts. If you wish to be a part of a professional conservation team, and experience some of the most exciting conservation work in Africa, then you are the kind of volunteer we are looking for!
We personally initiate, implement and manage the Endangered Species Monitoring programmes on reserves that don’t have the means to do so themselves. Our programmes are responsible for important wildlife research, working with amongst other animals, Black Rhino, Cheetah, Wild dog, Lion, Elephant, Leopard and Hyena.
As a volunteer you will be actively involved the hands-on conservation work we do including:
Endangered species tracking, via radio telemetry equipment Activities that occur regularly are:
the project
The Endangered Species Monitoring Programme is lead by an experienced, passionate and hands-on team. We work across many reserves in Zululand (Zululand has some of the most beautiful and productive wild lands in Africa), and therefore give you a in-depth insight into holistic conservation efforts. Real Africa - Real Conservation We are looking for people who want their contribution to be directly and effectively utilised in genuine conservation efforts. If you wish to be a part of a professional conservation team, and experience some of the most exciting conservation work in Africa, then you are the kind of volunteer we are looking for!
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrival, settle into accommodation, volunteer orientation and programme overview. |
| Day 2: | Morning: Wild Dog pack monitoring. Afternoon: Cheetah and Elephant monitoring . |
| Day 3: | Morning: Cheetah and Black Rhino monitoring. Afternoon: Wild Dog pack monitoring. |
| Day 4: | Morning: Lion and hyena monitoring. Afternoon: Wild dog pack monitoring. |
| Day 5: | Morning: Elephant monitoring. Afternoon: Cheetah and Lion monitoring. |
| Day 6: | Morning: Black Rhino tagging. Afternoon: Black Rhino tagging. |
| Day 7: | Morning: Wild Dog pack monitoring. Afternoon: Cheetah monitoring. |
| Day 8: | Morning: Admin work. Afternoon: Hyena and Wild Dog pack monitoring. |
| Day 9: | Morning: Wild Dog darting and relocation. Afternoon: Wild Dog darting and relocation. |
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment
Getting here and back with minimal impact is important to us. We are uneasy about supporting most carbon offset programmes, as we feel that in most cases they are not in fact a “fair” trade off and do not address the real issue of decreasing people’s actual emissions. Instead we encourage smart travelling, which includes taking direct flights, our one day a week pick up policy (getting picked up as a group instead of individually), providing discounts for the longer volunteers stay or alternatively going to projects which are close by (presently our projects are all within a 45 minute drive of one another). We are painfully aware that our mere presence is a burden on the biodiversity here, and therefore institute measures to limit our impact as much as we can. All of our accommodation is on the reserves within which we work and we endeavour to change and convert the accommodation environment into a sustainable system. While doing so we are continually showing our volunteers the environmentally friendly techniques we are developing and implementing along the way. This includes firstly all those things that can be done by changing just a few things around the house at no major expense and include: energy efficient light bulbs, recycling of waste, geyser blankets to save power, rain water collection, the use of natural based cleaning products, the switching off of appliances/lights when not in use. 10% of our profits goes towards our Fund, which help fund local community upliftment initiatives and the purchase of VHF collars and the collaring of priority species to enhance monitoring efforts on reserves we work on. Without your participation, we can not do the work we do: Helping to save priority species (many of them being endangered like wild dogs, cheetah and black rhino) by gaining scientific understanding of their role in the delicate African ecosystem. Community 100% of volunteers money, is put directly back in to our organisation. Each project provides sustainable employment for the staff and allows them to build personal financial security. All food and supplies are purchased locally, and volunteers are encouraged to buy their souvenirs from small village craft outlets. 50% of all our staff employed hail from local communities surrounding the reserves we work in. Along with this we are presently a Satisfactory Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Contributor as stipulated by the South African Department of Environment and Tourism. We strive to support other BEE compliant companies in whatever procurement we may have. Structured within our workforce is a learnership programme, whereby we train aspirant local community members to break into the conservation field, and in so doing build up valuable experience and skills needed to further their careers. A big stumbling block in conservation is the fact that conservation efforts often neglect to take the social impact of local communities into account. It is our belief that conservation is only sustainable if the local community benefits from conservation. Our learnership programme is an example of how we bring social and conservations needs together. The learnership program is in part explained under our Economic Responsibility section, because in a developing country such as South Africa the economic and social responsibilities fall close by one another. We are able to uplift the economy of an area through employing a few key individuals. In most cases in South Africa the breadwinner of the household is often responsible for providing for their own family, their parents, their siblings and often their siblings families. Another issue with many families in the rural areas is that the main job market is in the city centres and far from their families. With our learnership program we have in place will ensure the development of a skill which can be used in rural areas, allowing people to stay and provide a decent income to their families in their home environment. All photos by Christian Sperka |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |