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AFRICAN
WORKING HOLIDAY The future of conservation
in South Africa depends on obtaining a means of
funding for Private Nature Reserves and Wildlife
Rehabilitation Centers. The amount of funding made
available to projects such as erosion control,
invader plant control and fire control will make a
large difference in the scale of conservation in
the future. Now there is a solution. Situated near Pretoria, the
company was formed in October 2001 and aims at
aiding Nature Reserves and Wildlife Rehabilitation
Centers to become self-sufficient through funding,
job creation and hands on volunteers to assist with
various projects. " International volunteers are
recruited from all over the world. They pay for
their experience and in turn this funds the various
institutions. At the same time we are creating jobs
for South African Conservation students, as the
various institutions use a portion of the funding
to recruit locals to assist and train the
international volunteers. The international
volunteers assist with various projects otherwise
unaffordable to reserve owners due to a lack of
funding" Bio-Experience has various
tasks that volunteers can get involved in ranging
from invader plant control and game counts at
Nature Reserves, to wildlife feeds and cage
cleaning at wildlife rehabilitation centers. " We
make use of various institutions all over South
Africa, most situated in Cape Town, others are
located in Gauteng, Warmbaths and Natal. At present
we have two regularly used nature reserves and five
wildlife rehabilitation centers. We aim at offering
a wide range of volunteer opportunities, as our
mainstream of clients are with us long term between
one month and a year. This policy allows them to
enjoy many different opportunities and
experiences." Unlike many similar
programs, Bio-Experience makes these volunteer
opportunities available to local volunteers as
well. " It is so sad that locals are often unable
to afford programs such as these. At Bio-Experience
we try and accommodate the local and international
markets. We sponsor local volunteers on a regular
basis, as well as place local volunteers in
cancelled or unfilled gaps at the various
institutions" Even prices for International
volunteers are affordable to the average person at
US $ 600 per month, all inclusive. Programs such as these are
designed to increase the monitoring and care of
problems on nature reserves such as alien plant
control, often neglected due to a lack of funding.
The combination of tourism, conservation and the
welfare of wildlife create profitable environmental
management opportunities. " Our program is designed
to be a win-win situation. Reserves benefit from
funding and the work that volunteers do, the
environment benefits, our wildlife benefit and the
volunteer's benefit by gaining experience and
enjoying a never-to-be forgotten working holiday.
Finally, our local population benefit through job
creation and equal opportunities through
sponsorships" For further information
please contact Ms Dreyer at +27 11 964 1900 or
email her on natanya@cybertrade.co.za |
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"
Just had a herd of wildebeest rush past me on the
game count. They turned... and missed me by
centimeters", is the SMS received by volunteer
co-ordinator Natanya Dreyer, which represents a new
conservation conscious company: BIO-EXPERIENCE.
This is one of the many remarks from international
volunteers that assist on Nature Reserves and at
Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers with
Bio-Experience.