Biosphere Expeditions

"Voluntourism" travel holidays have been gaining increasing momentum over the past few years and this year is no different. Travel experts agree that "volunteer" holidays remain as a top trend for 2012.

One aspect of this trend is an ever-increasing number of wildlife conservation programs helping to preserve endangered wild animals and their ecosystems in remote parts of the world.

With recent media accolades in major publications, Biosphere Expeditions continues to be at the forefront of the volunteer travel industry with their award-winning volunteer wildlife conservation programs. Biosphere Expeditions' Namibia Big Cat Expedition was recently named on the Wall Street Journal's "Best In Volunteer Travel 2012" list and their Altai Snow Leopard Expedition was included in an article about "Trips That Help Animals" by Afar Magazine. In Outside Magazine, Biosphere Expeditions' diving volunteer vacation in the Maldives was named on the magazine's annual "Hot List".

The big question for those of us that want to give back and have an active holiday is how do you distinguish a credible operator from one that is overly commercial and only seeking to profit from this altruistic trend?

Dr. Matthias Hammer, renowned conservationist, Biosphere Expeditions founder and executive director is delighted with the recognition received in Australia and all over the world. "We've worked hard to be one of the industry leaders and it's great to see voluntourism taking off in this way. But this has its drawbacks too as purely commercial and frankly unethical operators are trying to jump on the bandwagon to cash in on an altruistic trend". Hammer continues, "this causes confusion and is why we have created a list of Top Ten Tips on how to choose a wildlife volunteering holiday  together with renowned partners such as the Born Free Foundation and Tourism Concern".

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.

For further information and background on our top ten tips please visit:  www.biosphere-expeditions.org/toptentips.