Conservation in Southern Africa with Projects Abroad

  Botswana

Molepolole

  South Africa

Rural Areas

Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks
Dates: All Year Round (you set the start and end date)

Description: South Africa and Botswana, like other areas of sub-Saharan Africa, are affected by the combined forces of climatic extremes and decades of mans greediness. Drought, deforestation, desertification and land degradation are the major environmental problems. There is pressure on the natural resources, coupled with decades of land mismanagement caused by an inadequate and decentralized control of resources.

In Southern Africa big game still roams, but a booming human population is pushing wildlife out to the frontiers. National boundaries often bisect ecosystems and disrupt natural processes.

However, countries in Southern Africa are teaming up to develop Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). These are becoming of global importance for conservation and you can get involved by volunteering with Projects Abroad. You do not have to have had any previous experience; volunteers are welcome on their gap year, career break, or as part of an extended holiday.

Volunteer Conservation Opportunities in South Africa & Botswana

Trans-Frontier Projects are an exciting new initiative, combining conservation efforts across international boundaries including game reserves, national parks and conservation areas for the benefit of wildlife, local people and future generations.

This Projects Abroad initiative involves South Africa and Botswana working together to conserve wildlife, mountain ecosystems and African culture. With opportunities to help hyenas, vultures, and many other African animal species as well as local communities this project offers you the opportunity to get involved in numerous conservation activities in exciting settings.

Your Role as a Volunteer on the Trans-Frontier Conservation Project in South Africa & Botswana

While volunteering abroad on the Conservation Project you'll be based at up to three consecutive sites (depending on how long you're staying). You will get the chance to do really varied and hands-on work, while living outdoors in the wild bush - or highveld - amongst elephant, kudu, impala, baboons, crocodile, hawks, hyenas & not to mention the dramatic high rock outcrops so characteristic of this stunning African landscape.

On an average three month placement, volunteers would probably start with a month at the base camp near the Limpopo River in Botswana, named Legodimo - which is the Tswana word for paradise or where God is. You may then move on for two weeks to Mapungubwe Trans-frontier park, followed by a week patrolling Venetia Game Reserve in South Africa tracking wild dogs and lions, or a week in Blouberg National Reserve removing alien plants or tracking and fixing ID tags to White Backed Vultures. You may then return to Legodimo for your final month with shorter weekend trips to Malaboch National Reserve or to revisit Venetia Reserve.

Volunteers on average work six hours a day; four hours in the morning and two in the late afternoon, with the middle of the day devoted to transferring data, eating, sleeping, swimming and relaxing. Volunteers live entirely within the game reserves and aren't able to leave without a qualified ranger, but you'll have the chance to go into town at least once a week for shopping and to communicate with the outside world!

The main activities you have the opportunity to get involved in include:

    * Erosion control and soil reclamation in risk areas
    * Alien plant control and removal, and bush clearing in encroached areas
    * Game censuses
    * Monitoring elephant migration and impact on the bio-diversity of the Reserves
    * Species lists
    * Snare removal and where possible assisting field rangers in anti-poaching patrols
    * Game capturing and re-introduction
    * Wild Dog, Cheetah, White Bill vultures, Buffalo and Giraffe tracking and identification to establish population birthing and mortality rates
    * GPS of newly created roads, existing roads and animal distribution, population and range of migration
    * Rehabilitation of Inyala trees and protection against elephant damage

Data collected across these projects is used to gain a greater understanding of the populations and their migration habits, which is passed on to the governing bodies of the countries involved to enable them to set environmental policies and suitable border control practices.

The African Vulture and Wildlife Initiative

Without vultures, you get many more hyenas. With more hyenas, you get fewer big cats. The lions kill but the hyenas eat the kill. The female cheetah leaves its young when she hunts and the hyenas are watching and waiting.

The role of vultures in the African ecosystem is fundamental. Without these carrion-feeders removing dead and rotting carcasses there would be a significant increase in flies and disease. But thats only the beginning. If vultures were to disappear then we could other scavengers come to the fore and upset the balance of the ecosystem. Hyenas would multiply and provide competition and direct threats to the big cats such as leopards and cheetahs. Hyenas are powerful animals; they dont just eat carcasses; they prey directly on upon the young of big cats and can even bring down adults, especially of the smaller species like cheetahs and leopards. But the greatest problem the cats will face is losing their kills to the hyena packs. A solitary cat or even a small pride of lions cannot always defend their kills. In the end they would just die of starvation.

Our mission is to stop African vultures from going the same way as their Asian cousins. Vultures have become virtually extinct in Asia in the last ten years because of one veterinary drug, Diclofenac. The drug is used on cattle and it does not break down in a cows body, so it is still there she dies. Diclofenac therefore accumulates in the bodies of the vultures feeding on her carcass. This leads to the kidney failure and death of whole packs of vultures in less than a week.

In Africa, Diclofenac has now been introduced and cattle-farming is on the rise. The problem is not yet as serious as in Asia but the trend towards cattle farming and the ready availability of Diclofenac indicates that we could be facing a similar disaster across the continent if action isnt taken now. Some countries have already started implementing education programs asking for veterinary surgeons and pharmaceutical companies to recommend medicines that contain a harmless alternative, Meloxicam, but there is a lot of work still to be done.   It makes this tragedy all the more poignant that there is a perfectly good alternative treatment for cattle and that the whole thing boils down to marketing by pharmaceutical companies.

Projects Abroad is part of an international campaign, including the RSPB and Bird Life Africa, designed to heighten awareness and to persuade farmers to avoid Diclofenac. We are setting up a monitoring programme at Legodimo to gather data on species, numbers, behaviour and diversity and were going into partnership with local veterinary practices to promote the safe use of drugs. We are producing literature to condemn Diclofenac and promote Meloxicam.

Projects Abroad and its volunteers are going to fight a tough campaign to save vultures in Africa and thus, we believe, to save the beauty and variety of African wildlife.

Accommodation at base camp is in large but basic bedrooms surrounding a large communal area with a fire pit and kitchen facilities, where much of the food is cooked over a traditional open Braai a kind of barbecue. Hot water showers and toilets are open to the sky. There are also opportunities to camp when working at some of the other national parks.

This placement is also available as a two-week summer special for high school students between the ages of 16 and 19.

Highlights: Our base in South Africa is in an area of the Limpopo Province called Barberton. An area of outstanding beauty, six thousand square kilometres has been designated a conservation area. Herds of elephant, white rhino, the endangered black rhino, leopard and buffalo all live there in a variety of game parks. Less than three hours away from the bustling city of Johannesburg, Barberton has many of the attractions of the Kruger National Park but without the volume of tourists and safari buses. This is a part of South Africa which is treasured by South Africans themselves.

All accommodation is organized, paid for and monitored by Projects Abroad. All project placements are regularly visited and checked. We require high standards of supervision and accommodation, and these are verified just before you arrive in South Africa.

In addition, this project offers the opportunity to become fully immersed in the culture in a manner which even the most hardened of backpackers could never hope to do.

Qualifications: No experience or qualifications are required.

Cost in US$: From US$ 3,045 up

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Open-minded with a desire to travel.

Age Range: 16-70

This Program is open to World Wide Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel Independently Or in Groups

Typically Participants Work Independently Or in Groups

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network
• Exit DebriefingAbroad
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home

Projects Abroad's Mission Statement: As part of the global economy, Projects Abroad helps create local employment wherever we send volunteers. Employing local staff overseas and using their talents and knowledge is important to us. This local knowledge and support enables the organization to channel the skills of the volunteers from more affluent countries to regions around the world where they are needed. Volunteers also learn from their placements and the people they meet, and they gain experience in a chosen field. In the 21st century, we believe this mutual respect is what cultural exchange is all about.

Year Founded: 1992