There’s more to being an eco-warrior than simply throwing your arms around a tree trunk, or singing Kumbaya around a campfire.
Projects in countries all over the world allow ordinary people to invest their time and effort and make a real difference. Here are five of these eco-volunteer projects available right now.
Protect endangered sea turtles – Costa Rica
Project: During nesting season, endangered leatherback, green and hawksbill turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. Volunteers are needed to patrol the beaches and protect the turtles and their eggs from poachers.
Location: Parismina, Costa Rica
Cost: $30 registration fee
Organization: Asociacion Salvemos Las Tortugas De Parismina (ASTOP)
Accommodations: Home stay with local family ($27 a day)
Time of year: Nesting season is March through September
Monitor climate change – The Arctic Circle in Canada
Project: Teams experience the Arctic’s edge in its most dramatic season. Traveling by gamutik (sled) towed by snowmobiles, volunteers classify ice crystals and measure snow pack thickness, density, and temperature. They also learn how to build an igloo and sleep in it comfortably, even when the temperature outside is about 25 below zero.
Location: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
Cost: $3,500
Organization: EarthWatch Institute
Accommodations: Eight-bed dormitory in the Churchill Northern Studies Center
Time of year: February (11 days)
Cheetah conservation – Namibia
Project: Assist Cheetah Conservation Fund staff in their research, conservation, and education programs. Primary duties include wildlife surveys, guarding livestock, managing herds of goats and sheep, cheetah husbandry, data collection and entry, archival of research documents, and 12-hour long waterhole counts. Teams also have the opportunity to aid CCF staff with radio tracking.
Location: Eland’s Joy – a 37,000-acre working farm and headquarters of the Cheetah Conservation Fund
Cost: $4,600
Organization: EarthWatch Institute
Accommodations: Two-person rondavel
Time of year: Most months of the year
Scuba dive and check coral reefs – tropical locations around the world
Project: PADI open water certified divers assist one- to two-week long submarine research programs that record coral and wildlife growth and regression
Location: Locations include Honduras, Maldives, Philippines, Oman and Malaysia
Cost: Location dependent – between $1,900-$2,700
Organization: Reef Check Worldwide
Accommodations: Typically shared wooden bungalows or cabins
Time of year: Expeditions take place throughout the year
Study bottlenose dolphin behavior – Belize
Project: Ride in a boat and snorkel dolphin ‘hotspots’ within the atoll. Assist professional researchers in recording dolphin behavior on standard data sheets, plotting locations and identifying dolphins individually through natural markings.
Location: Blackbird Caye, Turneffe Atoll
Cost: $2,000
Organization: Oceanic Society
Accommodations: Double occupancy rooms in beachfront cabanas (private baths) at the Blackbird-Oceanic Society Field Station
Time of year: Expeditions are scheduled throughout the year
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
(Image: Philippe Guillaume)
