Predator conservation in South Africa
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
Environment
You’ll be staying in the camp on the game reserve, which has been designed to ensure that volunteers are as close to Africa as possible, without compromising safety or comfort. By staying in the camp, you’ll be directly benefitting the local community and economy. The tents are simply built, with a wooden deck and an open-air en-suite bathroom. All materials used to build the camp are local and the construction provided yet more jobs for the local community.
The camp is simple, environmentally friendly and you’ll be actively encourages to recycle, be efficient with energy and water usage and preserve the surroundings. The money that you pay us will go directly to the project to pay the wages of staff members and for the food you will eat. All of your food is prepared for you and sourced locally, thus directly assisting local businesses. This provides not only much needed income for the project but also extra jobs, income for local businesses from food purchases and the money you’ll spend during free time. By taking part on the project you’re bring financial support and learning experiences for the whole community.
Sustainable and ongoing development of local communities is always the primary aim of our volunteer projects and this project is no different. You’ll take up where others left off and you’ll be involved in the continued development of this game reserve and its conservation efforts.
Our company
You taking part in this project enables us to continue to donate financial assistance as well as necessary goods, where it is needed around the world. Examples of donations include building new classrooms, providing school uniforms for poorer students, buying computers, sports equipment, playgrounds, toys, mattresses, classroom equipment and funding school trips and the building of libraries, and more. We also donate significantly to conservation research efforts and the purchasing of necessary conservation equipment. In the past, these donations have been made in all continents and in projects where we work, and some where we do not work.
Recent donations made include:
- Monthly donations to a variety of schools, orphanage and animal sanctuaries around the world to help with costs.
- Donations to a school in Zambia to sponsor the education of five children per year.
- Donation made to a school in Ghana to build new signs to advertise the school, buy a photocopier, buy reading books and pain some classrooms in need of repair.
- Donation of funds to build a toilet at one of the schools we work with in Cambodia – until now the children have had to go into neighbouring houses or in the bushes!
- Computer and Camera for a Street Kids project in South Africa.
- Ongoing monthly donations made to orphanage in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and every year additional money given at Christmas to buy presents for children.
- Approximately £1,500 towards the building of a desperately needed classroom in a Zulu school in eMakhosini, South Africa.
- Water tanks for various projects in Ghana and Kenya to allow the children safe drinking water.
- Toys and play equipment for children at a project that was severely lacking funds for this in South Africa.
- A donation of books for the Red Cross Hospital in Cape Town.
- A donation of $400 to the elephant project in Thailand.
Community
Our local staff members have established a link with a local game reserve that would not be able to continue its operations without the help of volunteers; the reserve simply lacks the funds and manpower to continue without assistance from volunteers.
This project was started by South African conservationists to specifically find a solution to Cheetah/Farmer conflict, to demonstrate that Cheetahs could be sustainable through tourism rather than by hunting and killing them. The reserve is based in an area that has been traditionally very hostile to predators, so your work will be especially important.
This idea has now expanded to include a very successful Predator Conservation project which conserves and sustains all the large predators on the reserve.
We work in partnership with the local game reserve in South Africa, which began Wildlife Research on the property in 2005, and has focussed in the past on the interactions within the large carnivore guild. The project is unique in that aim to make predators accepted on game farms through tourism. They have also been putting together a lot of which began with a survey to estimate local population, along with answering specific questions about each species of game represented in the park.
Over time the aim is to build up a long term data set that shows trends in the population and highlights issues that must be addressed. With this information they can provide important data to land owners to help them make better management decisions and insure predators are protected through agreements with landowners. They are also aiming to use the information gathered to make a conservation model which can be used for future projects. There is a simple laboratory which enables the researchers to analyse data such as scats, bone marrow samples and hair samples.
There is a genuine requirement for your help on this working reserve. You’ll be involved in any task that is necessary to keep the reserve active and enabling further conservation efforts. By volunteering your time you’re directly helping the project staff with daily tasks, enabling them to focus on other work. By supporting local conservation efforts you’re influencing local community in many ways, such as, preserving their natural environment and the animals that live there, bringing income to the project enabling them to develop conservation efforts and ultimately education through cultural exchange.
Approximately 60-75% of your project fee goes to South Africa. Some is for the project and the continuing need for funds for the research, some is for your backup and support whilst you’re there. Of the funds that are spent in country, 100% is used by the project for its running costs and research – the majority of the funds are spent on continually striving to find new solutions to predator / farmer conflicts.
Where possible volunteers are encouraged to purchase supplies for their placement in the local community rather than in their home country, supporting local business.
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