New Ways and Places to Volunteer in Earthwatch’s 2007 Expedition Guide
Volunteers can now choose from over 130 conservation research projects in Earthwatch’s 2007 Expedition Guide, including 11 new expeditions in countries as far-flung as Armenia and Iceland.
Ordinary, everyday people can sign up as volunteers to do extraordinary things, such as help with cheetah conservation in Namibia, study elephants and leopards in Sri Lanka, or collect glacial soil in Iceland. Research projects closer to home include swimming with whale sharks in Western Australia.
Earthwatch expeditions last from three days to three weeks. During that time, volunteers get involved in all aspects of research and also have some free time to explore the surrounding natural beauty. And no previous experience is necessary – all research techniques are taught by the scientists on site.
The Sri Lanka’s Elephants and Elusive Leopards project studies wild elephants and leopards and their relationship with local Sri Lankan farmers. The Sri Lankan elephant population was once around 20,000 but is now down to about 3,500, mainly due to farmers seeing elephants as oversize pests that wreak havoc on their crops, whereupon they poison, trap or shoot them.
Leopards are also seen as a threat as they kill and eat livestock. Working with conservation biologists, volunteers will conduct human-elephant and human-leopard conflict surveys with local village field scouts on foot or on bicycle. Volunteers will gather information about elephant and leopard populations, and also set up camera traps for leopards, to try to photograph the rare nocturnal animals.
The Sri Lanka’s Elephants and Elusive Leopards expedition has departures in June, July, August and December 2007. The trip cost is $3,500 per person twin share for 12 days, including shared accommodation in a mud-walled research station, meals, greenhouse gas offset costs and a financial contribution to the project.
As Earthwatch supports research expeditions around the world, the organisation has partnered with Climate Friendly to calculate carbon emissions from Earthwatch’s volunteer and staff air travel. The cost of offsetting emissions from a flight to an expedition has now been included in the cost of projects. These funds are passed on to Climate Friendly, which invests in emission-free technologies, encouraging a clean energy future.
For further information and a copy of the 2007 Expedition Guide, contact Earthwatch on 03 9682 6828 or visit www.earthwatch.org.au
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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