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The World Heritage Wetland Park of St. Lucia is one of the most awesome and important areas in South Africa, helping it to maintain its ‘megadiverse’ status and supporting 100s of species of animals and birds. You can help protect and conserve it, with a little help from your camera…
Project Age Limit
Minimum 17 years, maximum decided on potential participants’ health.
Project Requirements
To take part in this project, an enthusiasm for photography is essential. If you already have photographic knowledge and experience, this will be helpful but it is not essential. You will need to take your own photographic equipment but there are no specific requirements as to what you should take. We recommend SLR cameras and tripods.
Creating a Photographic Database
In order to preserve the nature and wildlife in the St. Lucia area it is vital that the local communities are involved. However, at the moment there is not a detailed photographic database of the wildlife in the area that can be used for educational purposes.
As a volunteer, your help will be essential in creating a complete database of wildlife photographs for this purpose. You will be required to take pictures of as many wildlife species as possible, whilst out within the reserve with our qualified nature guide Theo. This activity will vary from taking photos of large animals such as rhino, buffalo, elephant and leopard, as well as the smaller creatures such as insects and chameleons.
There are over five hundred and twenty bird species that will also need to be included in the database so it will also be your task to photograph these. The best pictures that are taken by the volunteers will be included in the database and you will receive assistance in getting some of the best pictures published in magazines and/or books.
To further assist you, you will have the support and guidance of our wildlife photographer, who will teach you about wildlife photography and conduct a short course each month for you.
Conservation Education
As a volunteer, you will be visiting local schools and community centres where you will give classes and workshops. The subject of these will include the reason for and methods of conservation as well as education on local wildlife. The aim of conservation education is to enhance awareness of UNESCO’s objectives and methods, as well as conservational efforts in general, and it is essential to involve and educate the local community in St. Lucia’s to do this.
In order for you to competently teach the classes and workshops you will receive comprehensive information during your orientation programme and extensive training from the project staff. Along with the conservation education syllabus you will be able to use the photography database to assist with your task.
To enhance the education that you are providing to the children you will be able to take the local school children and orphans on field trips into the bush. By experiencing the World Heritage Site and witnessing its wildlife first hand, it allows the children to better their appreciation of the stunning area that they live in, and also get a better understanding of educational efforts. This also gives the children a fun and relaxing day out - something that they do not get to experience very often.
Project Support
Throughout your stay on the project you will have the support and guidance of our coordinator and team. You will be provided with competent assistance and help with any questions or advice you may need during your stay. You will also have the support of our Nature Guide Theo when out in the bush, together with our qualified Wildlife Photographer.
In addition you will have access to a 24 hour emergency contact number so you can contact one of our UK staff at any time should you need to.
Project Orientation
Upon your arrival in St. Lucia you will have a comprehensive three-day orientation. This is carried out by your project coordinator and will include:
- An introduction to St. Lucia and the area
- An introduction into the programme outline for HIV/AIDS education
- An introduction to all of the projects that you could be working on. You will get to see where you will be working and spending your days.
- A basic language course giving you the chance to learn some basic words and sentences in Zulu, the local language in St. Lucia, so that you can communicate with people in their own language.
- A visit to a rural area, to give you a good idea of how local people live
- At the orientation, you will also receive our detailed ‘welcome pack’, which will contain further useful information for your time on the programme.
Accommodation and Meals
While on the project your accommodation will be at a large, comfortable project house. Located in the centre of St. Lucia, the house is fully furnished and has a large living room with satellite television, a garden, barbeque area, a swimming pool and a Jacuzzi.
You will be staying in a bedroom based on one to four people sharing and all bedding is provided (you may still want to bring a sleeping bag as it can be useful in the colder months i.e. June to September). Programme coordinators will also be staying at the house so that they can always be on hand should you need them.
The house has a staff of cooks and laundry/cleaning ladies and throughout the programme you will be provided with three meals a day. Breakfast will be on a help-yourself basis and will usually be cereals/porridge, toast, tea and coffee. A chef at the volunteer house will cook lunch and dinner for you.
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