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| Traveling in Europe? |
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Traveling for Conservation
Biosphere Expedition is a non-profit organization seeking to
further the world’s awareness of wildlife conservationism. Biosphere
Expeditions was formed by German born Matthias Hammer in 1999,
who, at the time was working on his Ph.D. at Cambridge on Human
Evolution. In the course of his studies he noticed that there were an
enormous number of researchers that were seeking both funds and
volunteers to take part in wildlife conservation research projects, but
were having a difficult time finding them. He also believed that there
were many people in both Europe and North America that wanted to do
more with there vacation time than just lay on a beach. Biosphere
Expedition came about by merging these two observations.
The purpose of Biosphere Expeditions is “the promotion of
suitable conservation of the planet’s wildlife by involving the public, with
scientists across the globe on real hands-on wildlife research and
conservation expeditions.” Hammer explains that they take their
scientific research extremely seriously. They want not only to make a
difference, but for the participants to go away from the project knowing
that the made a difference. They publish an expedition report after
each expedition that explains what the research has found. They also
publish in scientific journals as much as possible.
The name Biosphere Expedition comes from the biological
definition of Biosphere “the part of the Earth's surface and atmosphere
occupied by living things" and the term expedition, in the belief that
what they offer the volunteers is a real life expedition, not a travel
vacation.
Scientists approach biosphere Expedition from all over the world
on a regular basis seeking aid. Hammer states that there is a lengthy
process to determining which they can help and which they can not.
They must be from accredited scientists and at the same time be
something that volunteers with little to no experience could actively
take part in and benefit the project. Hammer notes that few can be
selected, but they are always eager to hear from researchers
Biosphere Expeditions has a long list of requirements from
everyone they work with. They must be economically, environmentally
and socially responsible. They seek to have as minimal negative
impact on the environment and cultures in which they work as
possible. They encourage the volunteers to conduct research in ways
that minimize the damage and to repair what damage is done.
Biosphere Expedition’s first expedition took place in 2001 in
Poland’s Carpathian Mountains. This project sought and achieved
establishing a hunting ban on wolves in the area. Since then
Biosphere has grown and now has offices in the UK, Germany, France
and the US.
For 2007 and 2008 Biosphere Expedition will be taking part in 9
major projects, each in a different country. Each deals with a different
environment and challenges. Participants can take part in helping to
understand elephant behavior in Sri Lanka in order to aid coexistence
with human inhabitants there. They can go to the rain forests of Peru
to study monkeys and macaws and aid researchers there in having the
area declared protected. Most participants will work on exhibitions for
approximately two weeks.
Biosphere Expeditions has received numerous awards for the
work they do from both travel and environmental organizations.
According to testimonials on their website, many of the scientists in the
field claim that the research they conducted could not have be done
without the volunteers Biosphere Expeditions brought to them.
To find out more visit their site at: www.biosphere-expeditions.org