Eco-Volunteer Programme – Botswana

This program will help you live the passion for wildlife. You will get close to nature and learn about wildlife conservation efforts and wild rehabilitation work on the reserve. Volunteers will be going on safaris and will witness wildlife up-close. Volunteers will also get an opportunity to engage with the local communities in the villages to provide much needed resources and staff for the reserve and volunteer operation. Volunteers also give back through school visits and anti-poaching education. Through this project you will make lifelong friends and gain a truly rewarding experience .

Motse Eco-volunteers prides itself on having no animal contact. There are many unscrupulous ‘volunteer’ experiences in Africa, usually allowing touching of orphaned animals, which seem like great experiences, but contribute little to conservation and can be ethically and morally dubious. Our animals are wild, and we like them that way.

Typical activities for our Eco-Volunteers

Science:

African Wild Dog tracking
Introduction to the on-going leopard research
Lecture on identifying big cats, taking photographs of lion, leopard and cheetah for research purposes
Lecture on field data collection
Lecture on elephant monitoring – focus ethology
Camera trap photo analysis and data catalogue

Reserve Management and farm to wild rehabilitation:

Field trip and large animal tracking
Field work on construction of burms to slow erosion
Invasive weed control
Inspection of measures to protect infrastructure from elephants
Repair of infrastructures ( game fences and waterholes)
Removal of fence posts, wire and farm ruins
Repair of damaged roads

Community:

Lecture on Community conservation and poaching, identifying weeds
Village cultural and school visit – Tsetsebjwe or Mathathane
Education program