We know this is a problem these days, with profit-driven expedition travel operators trying unscrupulously to take advantage of people's goodwill and enthusiasm. This is why we have come up with our Top Ten Tips on choosing a wildlife volunteering experience (below) and our opinion piece on voluntourism in nature conservation.
The Top Ten Tips are:
1. Reputation, reputation, reputation: has the organisation won awards or accolades, who are they associated with, what is their philosophy, do they write & publish their results and what’s their safety record.
2. Qualified staff: work should be led by qualified & proven experts, group leaders should be well qualified and all staff should be well briefed on risks and safety issues.
3. Where does your money go: good organisations will always publish clear information that shows how your money is spent.
4. Proper follow-through: a good organisation will, through updates and reports, keep you informed about how the project progresses even after you’ve left.
5. What will you get out of it: be clear about what you want to get out of the experience - training, self-development, an adventure - then check whether the organisation is clear in communicating what’s on offer for you.
6. Community involvement and benefit: understand a project’s relationship to the local community and make sure that the organisation is properly embedded with locals efforts and people – does the community benefit, have they given consent for work to be carried out, how have they been involved. Is there training for locals, scholarships, capacity-building, education, etc.
7. Your fellow participants: understand the profile of the people that will share your trip by checking the organisation’s website and social media sites.
8. In the field: check that the organisation is clear & transparent about what will be happening day to day, the accommodation, food and other logistics, and also what is expected of you.
9. Captive animals: if the experience involves captive animals, be very clear on the purpose of the captive facility, where the animals come from and whether it is part of a reputable programme.
10. Handling animals: steer clear of organisations that encourage handling of captive wild animals for anything other than essential veterinary or neo-natal surrogate care. If wild animals are handled, it should only be for essential research & conservation work and following strict animal welfare guidelines.