Blue Lagoon and Coral Reef Monitoring Volunteer & Internship Jobs In Canada

projects. Long term internship management
positions available for 6 month durations.

You can volunteer and intern in Mauritius for between 1 week and 6
months in duration, and we have places available throughout 2014 &
2015.

Individuals, groups and students are all welcome.

The Project

Marine conservation volunteers and long term interns will work
alongside a Mauritian Non Governmental Organisation whose objectives
are to preserve the natural resources from the threat of pollution and
destruction due to inconsiderate development and lack of awareness on
the island of Mauritius. The Blue Lagoon and Coral Reef Monitoring
programme focuses on the protection, preservation and restoration of
the marine and coastal environment for the region of Blue Bay and
Pointe d’Esny, Mauritius.

Volunteer Programme

Short term volunteers are involved in the monitoring of the reef in
the Blue Bay Marine Park and in the Pointe d’Esney Lagoon. The range
of projects include:
• Lagoon Monitoring (coral and fish monitoring and recording all human
activities which take place within the lagoon);
• Beach and Mangrove Cleaning and Monitoring;
• Providing a number of actions to build local community support
(questionnaire survey, events, in-school lessons for children).

Lagoon Monitoring – involves fish, coral and anthropogenic activity
surveys being conducted. We aim to be out on the water most days
collecting the valuable data required to try and understand what is
happening in the lagoon. This will allow us to inform the local
community on the state of their most precious resource, upon which
many of them heavily depend.

Mangrove Monitoring & Cleaning – Mangroves protect land against
flooding and help to prevent shoreline erosion. Since coral reefs
thrive in nutrient-poor waters and mangroves thrive in nutrient-rich
waters, mangroves also improve the water quality by purifying the
water from wastes and pollutants. Waste is being dumped in the
mangroves forest which prevents them from breathing through their
roots. So volunteers are involved in both mangrove monitoring and
mangrove cleaning.

What skills and experience will volunteers gain?

Volunteers can enhance their marine based knowledge through taking
part in this programme. The programme aims to:
• Provide volunteers with a sound understanding of the marine ecosystem
• Enable volunteers to identify various coral, fish and benthic
species distributed around the oceans of Mauritius. Training will be
given through various theoretical and practical workshops.
• Investigate current anthropogenic issues that impact the ecosystem
of corals reefs both globally and within the local area of Blue Bay
and Mauritius. The programme will then look at current conservation
strategies, which can used to manage and control the addressed issues.
• Enable volunteers to implement up to date research, through the
practical application of current methodologies, which assess both fish
and benthic abundance. These methodologies will be applied using both
snorkeling and scuba diving techniques.

Volunteers should aim to join for a minimum of 2 weeks after which
time you will gain both a theoretical and practical understanding of
the marine environment, be able to implement research methodologies,
and gain a further appreciation for current anthropogenic issues
influencing the reefs around the Blue Bay Marine Park area. The skills
acquired during the programme can then be used to further enhance a
volunteer’s academic achievements in marine conservation.

Area of study

The main area of study will take place within both the Blue Bay Marine
Park and the Pointe d’Esny Lagoon. Both areas offer an exciting array
of marine species, with as many as 38 species of coral and 72 species
of fish been identified within the marine park. However, decades of
neglect from illegal fishing, destructive fishing methods, high
amounts of tourism and pollutant run off has put increased pressure on
the coral reefs around Mauritius. We need your help in aiding the
recovery and sustainability of these beautiful reefs.

For more information on this marine conservation volunteering
opportunity (prices, dates, lodging, testimonials), please visit our
main project page on this link –
http://www.workingabroad.com/projects/mauritius-volunteer

How to Join

If you are interested in joining this project to volunteer in
Mauritius as a marine conservation volunteer or a long term intern,
you will need to fill out the online application form (you can also
print it out and send it to us by post) – to secure a placement on the
project, please complete and submit the form including two references
and your deposit of £160. If for some reason, your application is
declined, we would reimburse this deposit fully. However for those
volunteers who are accepted, the full amount needs to be paid one
month before the start date. For interns, once your application has
been received and if we wish to proceed to the next phase, we will
carry out a Skype interview with you. Once your place is confirmed,
you will receive a pre-departure package with all detailed information
on your project, the region, suggested items to bring etc.

http://www.workingabroad.com/projects/mauritius-volunteer#tab_960