Dette projekt tilbydes i samarbejde med organisationen GVI og nedenfor kan du læse deres beskrivelse af programmet:
Curieuse Island and its surrounding waters are a national park, managed by our principal in-country partner, Seychelles National Parks Authority. Our beach-front camp is located on the white sand beach of Anse St Jose and overlooks Praslin (Seychelles’ second largest island), just a short boat ride away.
Join a team of international volunteers as an expedition member and volunteer, assisting on priority conservation projects. You will work with a variety of plants and wildlife whilst living the island life, surrounded by the striking azure waters of the marine park.
Work with the critically endangered sea turtles which nest on the island; study nesting success in hawksbill and green turtles, collect data such as tag numbers, carapace (shell) measurements and number of eggs laid or carry out nest excavations to measure hatching success. Help us track down sicklefin lemon shark pups for our catch-and-release project, gathering population and growth rate information on this understudied species. Record the rate of coastal erosion with our beach profiling surveys, and collect growth and reproductive data for the endemic and unique Coco de Mer palm tree. Lasty, assist in our annual census of the island’s Aldabra giant tortoise population and keep tabs on the growth rates of hatchlings and juvenile tortoises in the nursery.
If you are looking to learn more about conservation, contribute to a meaningful project and spend some time in an incredible location, you don’t have to look any further. Please note that our monitoring program and work schedules change seasonally; and projects are available based on the time of year you visit.
On this expedition, you will focus on several key conservation efforts within and around the Curieuse Island National Park which may include the following:
- Lemon Shark Project – We are conducting a capture, release and recapture study of the lemon shark population using P.I.T. (Passive integrated transmitters) tags. Peak shark tagging season in September to March, far less activity outside of that time.
- Coco de Mer Survey – The endemic Coco de Mer has the largest seed of all living plants and is found only on the islands of Praslin and Curieuse. Census work is carried out year round, but more effort is expended during the months of April to September.
- Mangrove Distribution Surveys – Curieuse Island has one of the largest remaining area of mangrove forest left within the Seychelles inner granitic islands. We are investigating seedling recruitment and mortality and further determining species distribution across the mangroves. Mangrove surveys are conducted in February and August.
- Giant Tortoise Census – We conduct an annual census of the giant tortoise population and record key measurements on growth and distribution. The tortoise census is conducted primarily during the months of April to September.
- Hawksbill Turtle Surveys – We conduct year round, weekly patrols of the beaches, recording data on nesting turtles and tagging females, also monitoring the beaches for signs of nesting activity, and marking nests when we locate them. The peak hawksbill season runs from September to March, although some nest excavations usually continue into April.
- Beach Profiling – Our beach profiling studies monitor changes in beach width, slope and area throughout the year, and contributes to a long-term dataset discribing annual changes in our beaches.
- Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) Surveys -We are conducting BRUV surveys to assess the populations of carnivorous and fish species along the remote north shore of Curieuse Island. BRUVS are conducted throughout April and May.
Throughout the year volunteers may also have opportunities to participate in an array of other projects developed by interns participating in our program.
Physical Requirements:
The Curieuse program is a very rewarding but physically challenging experience. All the survey locations are accessed by hiking on or off trail, often to very remote parts of the island. There are rough rocky tourist trails, steep in places, which are used for some of the closer hikes, e.g. turtle surveys on the south coast (1.5km return trip), mangrove surveys (2.5km), tortoises at the Ranger Station (3.5km), and most surveys are conducted in the full tropical sun.
The longest hike is to Grand Anse (5km return trip), several km of which are off trail on difficult terrain. The most physically demanding survey is Coco de Mer, whilst not the greatest distance (3.5km), the entire survey area is located on a remote, steep, rocky hillside and equipment is carried by hand.
Participants will generally conduct two surveys per day, returning to base for lunch, although some of the longer ones may stay out all day.
HER kan du læse mere om ansøgningsprocessen, din interkulturelle forberedelse, hvilke kompetencer du får, rejsebreve fra vores deltagere, aktuelle tilbud, hvordan du mixer dit eget program og meget mere.
