Wildlife Conservation Volunteers in Kenya

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Kenya Wildlife Conservation Volunteer

When: August 8 -21, 2021

Meeting Location: Wildebeest Camp, Nairobi, Kenya

Discipline: Community-based Wildlife Conservation

Field Site: Giraffe Camp at Lol Konoi, Siria Plateau, Southwestern Kenya

Life Net seeks 8 cost-share volunteers to assist with giraffe monitoring and community-based wildlife conservation in Kenya. Our project site is on the Siria Plateau near the famous Masai Mara Triangle Reserve. Volunteers assist Maasai conservationists with wildlife surveys (especially giraffe), development of ecotourism, and advocacy for a giraffe conservancy. Dr. Dusti Becker, conservation biologist and Co-director of Life Net Nature will lead the team assisted by local Maasai conservationists.

Volunteers help with counts of giraffe and other large mammals along transects, and assist with observations of Masai giraffe mother-infant pairs, recording their movements with GPS locations, habitat use, foraging behavior, and taking photos to ID individuals and plants. Our team also does field assessments of changes in habitat quality for giraffe. Volunteers help improve guiding skills and campsite management by a local Maasai community-based conservation organization by sharing ideas for improvements in an eco-campsite called Giraffe Camp at Lol Konoi.

Volunteers may further empower local Maasai by providing professional development workshops based on their skills and interests ranging from accounting to strategic planning to zoology. Do you have an expertise you would like to share? Discuss ideas with Dr. Becker prior to arrival in Kenya.

Experience with binoculars and birding, wildlife monitoring, environmental education, small business management, leadership training, marketing, community-based conservation, website development and stewardship, and ecotourism are desirable, but the main criteria we look for in Life Net Nature volunteers is enthusiasm about wildlife and nature conservation, good health and fitness, a love for simple living in a camping environment, and interest in knowing more about Maasai culture.

Volunteers make a $2650 a cost-share donation to Life Net Nature to help cover their own and some project costs during the Kenya Wildlife Conservation Expedition. The cost-share provides employment and support to our local partner organization, Maasai Moran Conservation and Walking Safaris (MMCWS) during the project, and funds improvements to the campsite needed for hosting volunteers. The volunteer team meets in Nairobi on the morning (8 am) of August 8, 2021, at Wildebeest Camp (a friendly and safe tourist lodge on the outskirts of Nairobi). The cost-share donation covers all meals, lodging, staffing, and park entrance and campsite fees during the project (from the time the team meets on August 8 until our return to Nairobi on the afternoon of 21 August). It includes drivers and transportation to and from Nairobi, and two full-day safaris in two different sectors of the Masai Mara National Reserve.

This is a "working and educational" volunteer experience that may be used for university-level credit related to conservation biology. It is a serious resume builder for people interested in the theory and practice of community-based wildlife conservation, conservation biology, anthropology, developing nations, and wildlife monitoring.

The $2650 does not cover airfare or any expenses in Nairobi before or after the project. Volunteers are responsible for their own travel to and from Nairobi and all lodging and meals in Nairobi before and after the expedition.

To apply to join the August 2021 Life Net expedition in Kenya, email Dr. Dusti Becker dustibecker@lifenetnature.org OR dustizuni@yahoo.com to request a Life Net application form. Return the completed application form with a short cover letter explaining your interests and skills (resume is optional).

Once invited to join the team you will receive more information about the project. To secure a position on the team, you must make a deposit donation of $400 in the form of a check made out to Life Net and mailed to Life Net Nature.

The final balance donation of $2250 is due by June 1, 2021.