Protecting and caring for animals abroad: what is it, why would you do it, and where is the best place to go?
Protecting and caring for animals abroad: what is it, why would you do it, and where is the best place to go?
Protecting and caring for animals abroad: what is it, why would you do it, and where is the best place to go?
- What is working with animals abroad?
- Why would you protect and care for animals abroad?
- What do you need or can you learn if you are going to protect and care for animals abroad?
- To what extent are you insured for the risks?
- Protecting animals abroad: what is the best place to go?
- How does the preparation for working with animals abroad work in short?
What is working with animals abroad?
- Working with animals abroad means that you actively work for the protection or care of one or more animal species.
- The work can be divided into working with animals in their natural environment and working with animals in shelters. In addition, there are often activities to be done in the field of communication, education or, for example, fundraising.
- What is protecting animals in the natural environment of the animal?
- Protecting animals abroad in the natural environment (habitat) of the animal means that you do activities that relate to improving the living environment. Or that you help with research such as measurements, counts or behavioral observations.
- What is caring for animals in shelters and zoos?
- Caring for animals abroad in shelters means that you do activities that relate to providing food, carrying out fence checks, cleaning cages and monitoring their health.
Why would you protect and care for animals abroad?
- Helpfulness: whether you help another person or an animal in need: you get more back for the rewarding work than you put into it.
- Involvement: it strengthens your sense of involvement in the protection of nature and the animal world and also with other animal lovers.
- Experience: the chance that you will experience something you have never done before, that you will be pulled out of your comfort zone and that you will have an unforgettable experience is considerable.
- Stability and stress reduction: animals can have a strong influence on you when it comes to stress reduction; well-known examples are horses and dolphins. Other animals can be a good indicator of the extent to which you are already stress-resistant.
- Freedom: especially when you are working in the middle of nature, you will notice the difference with the life you sometimes lead at home.
What do you need or can you learn if you are going to protect and care for animals abroad?
- Being environmentally aware: for example by taking your environment into account, carefully storing your waste, leaving animals alone in their own habitat. Analytical skills: you will often have to analyse the behaviour of animals well. Sometimes to prevent danger, and sometimes because it is part of your work. In this way, you often also strengthen your own analytical skills.
- Being aware of the organisation: animal and nature protection organisations, and animal shelters, are often run by a special breed of very committed people. In addition, these are organisations that often have few resources and have to fight against local bureaucracy.
- Empathy: being aware of these circumstances is sometimes half the battle if you want to understand the behaviour of the employees of a project, or your direct co-helpers.
To what extent are you insured for the risks?
- All over the world there are reserves, animal shelters and zoos where you can roll up your sleeves as an intern or volunteer.
- In addition to 'cute' or 'impressive', 'unpredictable' is also a word that you can attribute to (wild) animals.
- Working with wildlife (and with animals in general) is therefore not without its risks. If a cute monkey suddenly turns out to be able to bite viciously, this can cause nasty injuries and even illnesses.
- Because many insurers exclude working with animals from coverage, it is important to handle this carefully.
- Read more: Travel insurances and insurances for long term abroad - Theme
- Read more: Werken met dieren in het buitenland verzekeren (NL)
Protecting animals abroad: what is the best place to go?
- Australia: marsupials, horses, koalas
- China: giant pandas, dogs and cats
- Costa Rica: monkeys, turtles
- Curaçao: dolphins, birds, dogs, cats
- Ecuador: felines, capuchin monkeys and kink-tailed bears
- Egypt: donkeys, horses, dogs and cats
- Philippines: monkeys
- Greece: sea turtles, dogs
- India: dogs and cats
- Indonesia: orangutans, gibbons, street dogs, birds of prey
- Cameroon: chimpanzees
- Malta: birds
- Madagascar: lemurs, fish
- Mexico: sea turtles.
- Mongolia: wild mountain sheep, Prezewalski horses
- Namibia: cheetahs, horses, wild cats
- New Zealand: kiwis (the birds)
- Uganda: rhinos
- Portugal: Iberian wolves
- Spain: stray dogs
- Sri Lanka: elephants, sea turtles
- Suriname: dogs
- Thailand: gibbons, elephants
- United States: wolves, horses
- Zambia: chimpanzees, lions
- Zimbabwe: lions, wild dogs
- South Africa: monkeys, white sharks, lions, rhinos, penguins
How does the preparation for working with animals abroad work in short?
- Accommodation: In many nature reserves you can sleep in ranger accommodations, mountain huts, etc., but bringing your own tent often provides a lot more privacy (but keep an eye on the animals). If you work at an animal shelter, for example, your accommodation will often be less primitive.
- Visas and permits: For some areas you need a special permit. Check this well in advance.
- Currency: Take extra precautions if you are going to remote areas.
- Safety & Troubleshooting: safety obviously differs per area you go to, so check the situation carefully with regard to possible rebels, weather and seasonal conditions, routes, presence of wild animals, etc. When working with animals in their natural environment, the environment often offers more risk than the animals you are examining. If you are going to work with animals in a form of captivity, the species you are working with determines the risks to a certain extent.
- Vaccinations & Health: If you are going into nature or working with animals, make sure you get specialized advice from a travel doctor or the Travel Clinic. Also check the information about the rabies and tick encephalitis vaccination.
- Insurance & Emergency Centers: when working with animals, an insurance that has taken into account the risks and local circumstances is actually the only luxury that is recommended.
Volunteering abroad: what is it, why should you do it and where is the best place to go?
Volunteering abroad: what is it, why should you do it and where is the best place to go?
What is volunteer work abroad?
- Volunteer work abroad means that you work abroad for a certain period of time at a foreign project or organization to help, learn or transfer knowledge.
- You usually do not receive any compensation for your work in the form of salary, expense allowance or room and board.
- Projects that have little or no income themselves will generally ask volunteers for compensation for the guidance or for the room and board provided.
- In the case of an intermediary organization, this compensation can also be made via the intermediary organization.
Why should you volunteer abroad?
- To help others with your efforts and skills.
- To support projects or goals that you consider important in your life.
- To gain experience in your own field of work, or in the sector where you may want to work later.
- To see yourself at work in a different environment.
- To be able to work in another area and see if you like it.
- To use as a stepping stone to a local job with salary.
- Because you don't think it's necessary for a project to incur extra costs for your presence while they really need every dime.
- Because you have already raised money for the project or organization where you will be working
What do you need if you want to do volunteer work abroad?
- Flexibility: you already need some form of flexibility, the rest you gain during your stay abroad.
- Ability to communicate: depending on the type of work, you will need to have a reasonable to good command of the local language.
- Independence and/or self-confidence: you already need a certain form of independence, and this will increase your self-confidence.
- Being environmentally aware: an important element for your stay abroad.
- Collaboration: also abroad it is important that you learn, or are able to, collaborate when you work with others.
- Be organizationally aware.
- Empathy.
Where is the best place to volunteer abroad?
- If you are looking for social volunteer work: Curaçao - Ghana - Guatemala - India - Nepal - South Africa
- If you are looking for corporate volunteer work: Australia - Curaçao - Spain - United States of America
- If you are looking for volunteer work caring for or protecting animals: Costa Rica - Curaçao - Ecuador - Indonesia - South Africa
- If you are younger than 18 years old: Spanish language course with volunteer work in Spain - or volunteer work for young people in Malawi, Uganda or South Africa
- If you are looking for volunteer work and are traveling for the first time as a 'woman alone': Australia - New Zealand - Argentina - Ecuador - Costa Rica - Thailand - Indonesia. - Nepal - Ghana
- If you want to gain experience 'as a woman alone', go to: Bolivia - Peru - Guatemala - Nicaragua - China and Hong Kong - South Africa - Kenya - Malawi
To what extent are you insured for the risks of volunteering abroad?
- There may be several reasons why you need separate insurance when volunteering abroad, or at least you should carefully check your insured situation.
- Local organizations usually offer no, or very limited, insurance.
- There is a risk of accidents, for example because you are doing work with which you have little experience.
- During your volunteer work abroad where you receive more than €190 per month in compensation (or, for example, food and housing), your Dutch health insurance coverage will normally lapse. You will then need special insurance to remain insured against illness and accidents.
- Read more about insuring volunteer work abroad.
Protecting sea turtles: what is it, where can you do it and are you insured?
Protecting sea turtles: what is it, where can you do it and are you insured?
- Protecting sea turtles: what does it involve?
- Protecting sea turtles: what do you get out of it?
- Protecting sea turtles: what to bring?
- Protecting sea turtles: do you need to be insured?
- What are sea turtles?
- What types of sea turtles are there?
- Where are you most likely to encounter sea turtles?
- Where can you find checklists for your travel, stay or work?
Protecting sea turtles: what does it involve?
- Protecting the eggs via fencing, for example
- Counting turtle eggs
- Taking care of injured turtles
- Building nesting sites
- Collecting data
Protecting sea turtles: what do you get out of it?
- A special time among engaged animal lovers
- Knowledge of a special species
- Images of sometimes thousands of tiny turtles
Protecting sea turtles: what to bring?
- Love of nature and animals
- Flexible sleep schedule
- Limited sensitivity to less pleasant smells
- In some cases, considerable stamina (the laying sites are sometimes a bit further away on remote beaches
Protecting sea turtles: do you need to be insured?
- Working with turtles is not free of dangers. They can sometimes bite viciously and cause ugly injuries and even disease.
- Because many insurers exclude working with animals from coverage, it is important to be careful.
- Check which insurances apply to you
- EN: Travel insurances and insurances for long term abroad - Theme
- NL : Vrijwilligerswerk in het buitenland verzekeren + Werkzaamheden met dieren in het buitenland verzekeren: bij werk, stage en vrijwilligerswerk
What are sea turtles?
- Sea turtles evolved from turtles that lived more on land. They are adapted to a life in the sea, but need to surface to breathe. They have lived on Earth for about 150 million years. Most species can travel long distances and swim up to about 30 km per hour
What types of sea turtles are there?
There are seven main types of turtles:
- Flatback Sea Turtle
- Green Sea Turtl
- Hawksbill Sea Turtle
- Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle / Kemp's sea turtle
- Leatherback Sea Turtle
- Loggerhead sea turtle / Loggerhead sea turtle
- Olive Ridley Sea Turtle / Dwarf Sea Turtle (Warana)
Where are you most likely to encounter sea turtles?
- Australia: at the Great Barrier Reef or Cook Island
- Costa Rica: at Tortuguero National Park
- Ecuador: at the Galapagos Islands
- Egypt: in the south at Marsa Alam
- Hawaii: a.o. at Maui
- Indonesia: near Bunaken. Pulau Weh or Raja Ampat
- Maldives: at various islands
- Malaysia: at Sipidan or the Perhantians
- Mexico: near Playa del Carmen
- Nicaragua: at the La Flor reserve
Where can you find checklists for your travel, stay or work?
Reforestation and tree planting abroad: what is it, why should you do it, and where is the best place to go?
Reforestation and tree planting abroad: what is it, why should you do it, and where is the best place to go?
Reforestation and tree planting abroad: what is it, why should you do it, and where is the best place to go?
- What is reforestation and tree planting abroad and why is it done?
- What does working in a reforestation project involve?
- What do you get out of it?
- What do you need or can you learn if you are going to plant and care for trees abroad?
- What are the best places to go to slow or reverse desertification?
- What are the best places to go to restore mangrove forests?
- What are the best places to go to restore rainforests?
What is reforestation and tree planting abroad and why is it done?
- Reforestation involves planting trees and shrubs in places where they have previously disappeared due to logging, flooding or forest fires.
- In many areas, planting trees helps to absorb or reduce the effects of climate change.
- In coastal areas, mangrove forests are planted to break waves, prevent land from being washed away and provide fish with a place to read.
- In dry areas, new trees provide shade, prevent erosion and desertification of the landscape.
- In reforestation projects and activities, attention is often also paid to restoring biodiversity by using various local tree species, which benefits local animal species.
- Many projects have their own nursery where small trees are grown from seeds.
What does working in a reforestation project involve?
- You can help care for the young trees (seedlings) at the nursery.
- You plant the small trees at selected locations.
- You care for the trees after they have been planted, for example by weeding, watering or placing protection against cattle and other grazers.
- You teach local communities about biodiversity, the benefits of reforestation for the local economy, for example.
- If you have a background in horticulture, forestry or water management, you can help train local employees or, for example, carry out a research internship on the results of the project.
What do you get out of it?
- Involvement: it strengthens your sense of involvement in tackling climate change, protecting nature and the plant world and also with other nature lovers
- Experience: the chance that you experience something you have never done before, that you are pulled out of your comfort zone and that you gain an unforgettable experience is considerable
- Freedom: especially when you are working in the middle of nature, you notice the difference with the life you sometimes lead at home
What do you need or can you learn if you are going to plant and care for trees abroad?
- Being environmentally aware: for example, by taking your surroundings into account, carefully storing your waste, minimizing water use and understanding the complex relationship between soil, plants and people.
- Being organizationally aware: environmental clubs and nature conservation organizations are often run by a special breed of very committed people. In addition, these are organizations that often have few resources and have to fight against local bureaucracy.
- Empathy: being aware of those circumstances is sometimes half the battle if you want to understand the behavior of the employees of a project, or your direct fellow helpers.
What are the best places to go to slow or reverse desertification?
- Spain
- Egypt
- Morocco
- Kenya
What are the best places to go to restore mangrove forests?
- Bonaire
- Sri Lanka
- Madagascar
What are the best places to go to restore rainforests?
- Brazil
- Ecuador
- Panama
- Indonesia
Beach Cleanups and trash hunting abroad: what is it, why should you do it, and where is the best place to go?
Beach Cleanups and trash hunting abroad: what is it, why should you do it, and where is the best place to go?
Beach Cleanups and trash hunting abroad: what is it, why should you do it, and where is the best place to go?
What is trash hunting and beach cleanup abroad and why is it done?
- Litter is a problem that exists worldwide, from the north cape to cape horn and from tropical beaches to the slopes of Everest
- During trash hunting or cleanups, a specific area is chosen to takeaway all plastic trash and other waste.
- Depending on the location, the waste consists of household waste, PET bottles, leftovers from fishing, tourist trash or floating debris from the other side of the world
- Cleaning up litter can be intended to protect wildlife, to give nature another chance or to make a place so beautiful that visitors will want to visit it again.
- Most cleanups are organised by local citizen initiatives, foundations and action groups and joining them is free
What does working in a cleanup project involve?
- During most cleanups you will go out with a group of volunteers with a pile of garbage bags and work gloves.
- When cleaning up waste on islands, isolated beaches or between mangroves you will often do your cleanup work from a boat.
- In reef cleanups you will go into the water with a snorkel or diving gear depending on the depth of the water
- Sometimes a competitive element is added to an activity, where groups compete against each other to collect as many kilos of waste as possible.
- Some environmentally conscious tour agencies offer discounts for people who are willing to pick up trash along hiking or climbing trails
- No training or experience is required for this work, the much bending and the large amounts of waste make this work quite hard so a reasonable to good condition is desirable
What do you get out of it?
- Involvement: it strengthens your sense of involvement in tackling pollution and protecting nature in a very hands on way.
- Experience: for a large part of the cleanups you will be active in a location where you as a tourist will not quickly come. By working with a group of committed volunteers you will experience the environment more strongly than normal
- New contacts: the low-key nature of the activity ensures that a diverse audience participates. It is a way for outsiders to get to know the locals or for expats to meet other involved citizens
What are the best places to go join a beach cleanup?
- Indonesia
- Costa Rica
- Greece
- Cape verde
- Hawaii
What are the best places to join other types of cleanups?
- Amazon river cleanup: Brazil
- Inca trail or El misti vulcano trail cleanup near Arequipa, Peru
- Norwegian fjords cleanup
- Mangrove cleanups in Jamaica, Bonaire or the Philippines
Activities abroad: home bundle
Activities abroad: home bundle
Main content and contributions for activities abroad
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