Conservation through Community Volunteering

Come and join the Kariega Foundation team as a conservation and community volunteer working on Kariega Game Reserve and in the surrounding communities. 

Where conservation & community volunteering merge!

This is a first of its kind hybrid conservation and community programme allowing you to get behind the scenes and make a lasting difference by assisting in conservation and community activities on and around Kariega Game Reserve. 

We are situated in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where volunteers also get the opportunity to explore an amazing coastline as Kariega Game Reserve is a mere 10 km from the sea... the beautiful Indian Ocean is literally on your doorstep! This coastline has particularly rich marine fauna and flora as well as endless sand dunes and beautiful beaches.

Volunteers with the Kariega Foundation receive stimulating practical experience in the following four areas: research, conservation management, education and community development. We recommend a minimum 2 week stay to get a chance to experience a good variety of activities across both conservation and community work.

Make a real difference, grow your skills in conservation and have the experience of a lifetime!

Your Conservation Experience

The conservation aspect of our Volunteer Programme will see you contributing to many different projects and activities. Kariega Game Reserve is a 11 000 ha Big 5 reserve and this means that every bit of help is needed to get the jobs done on this extensive piece of protected land. The different activities you will get involved with will depend on what the Ecology and Wildlife department needs to have done on the reserve at that time. This could include anything from wildlife monitoring, game capture, alien plant control to removing old fencing. Every day is different in the bush and even planned activities can change in an instant.

Your Community Experience

Kariega Game Reserve has a few impoverished communities on its borders and we believe that you can’t do conservation right if you don’t engage and uplift the communities who live alongside you. As a volunteer, you will experience different cultures, meet new people and do some great activities. From helping to upgrade a pre-school, cook and serve food at a soup kitchen, to helping in the communal vegetable gardens, you will leave with a warm heart knowing that you’ve made new friends and help improve their lives and environment.

How The Programme Works

When joining our Volunteer Programme, you will do both Conservation and Community activities. You will be allocated to either Group A or Group B and then follow the activity schedule for that specific group, alternating daily between conservation and community, during your stay. During a 2 week stay, it will include 5 days of Conservation and 5 days of Community work, so no one will miss out on any aspect while on our Programme. If there is any out of the ordinary activity happening (eg. wildlife procedures or big community days), we will make sure to include everyone.

Conservation Activities

Wildlife Conservation Research Projects

Kariega Foundation volunteers will contribute to one or more of the following research projects on Kariega Game Reserve.

• Predator and Prey Selection Monitoring
• Anti-Poaching and Rhino Monitoring
• Endangered & Priority Species Tracking and Monitoring
• Bird Research
• Elephant Research

Conservation Management

Conservation management activities form a large part of the volunteer programme. Some of these activities involve physical work and therefore a certain level of fitness and determination from the volunteer’s side is required. Keep in mind that the reserve needs are always taken into account and you will help to fulfill those needs as a volunteer. Daily activities are interesting and varied and could include assistance with some of the following activities.

• Wildlife introduction, capture, translocation and veterinary procedures
• Annual wildlife census
• Vegetation surveys
• Motion sensor camera monitoring
• Create and update ID kits for individual animal monitoring
• Biodiversity mapping

Reserve Habitat Management

Kariega Game Reserve has an inspiring conservation history. As recently as 35 years ago the Bushmans and Kariega River Valleys, over which Kariega Game Reserve spans, was all farmlands that had been occupied and cultivated by the 1820 settlers. However, the rugged and dramatic landscape did not lend itself to farming as most of the natural vegetation, particularly the Albany Thicket, was impossible to clear for pastures. The current 11,500 hectare protected area has been created by knitting together and re-wilding of 23 different farms. Volunteers will participate in on-going efforts to restore this habitat including:

• Alien invasive plant control
• Bush encroachment control
• Soil erosion control
• Fence removal and reserve clean-up operations
• Road clearing
• Wildlife introduction boma maintenance

Community Activities

The Kariega Foundation is working to unite a conservation community with the collective will to protect and preserve our beautiful, biodiverse landscapes and wild animals forever, by creating awareness and raising funds to advance the development, education and well-being of communities that live within and around our expanding boarders.

Our numerous and diverse projects flow from these core motives to conserve and protect our wild spaces and facilitate community development, education and welfare. We are building conservation through community.

Volunteers will work in the following community projects:

• Community infrastructure upgrades
• Environmental education
• Community permaculture gardens
• Sport
• ECD Centres (Early Childhood Development) and soup kitchens
• Domestic animal care
• Youth development

Field Conditions

Volunteers will stay at the Kariega Conservation Center (KCC), on the periphery of the Big 5 Kariega Game Reserve. You will be accommodated in either Cheetah or Hyena quarters. The facility is newly renovated and fully furnished. The house / Hyena quarters has a lovely lounge where you can relax, a refreshing swimming pool and a covered braai (BBQ) area. There are 3 shared bedrooms in the Hyena quarters.

At Cheetah quarters, there are 3 bedrooms. They are all en suite with their own shower, basin and toilet. There is an entertainment area with comfortable seating, a coffee / drinks station, pool table & library. All volunteers can use any of these areas.

The spacious garden allows you to stretch your legs or do some sport activities.

The working week is from Monday to Friday. Working hours depend on the season and may vary from 7 – 9 hours per day. The evenings are at your leisure. Each Wednesday afternoon all volunteers enjoy a town trip to the nearby beachside village of Kenton-On-Sea where they can shop, eat out and spend some time on the beach. Saturdays and Sundays are off time.

There are also additional activities that can be organised for you on a Saturday (at your own cost and on condition that a few others in the group also want to partake in the activity), including:

• Horseback riding on the beach
• Sky diving – tandem (that means you are strapped to an instructor!)
• Deep sea fishing
• Pottery classes with Meshack
• Sand boarding in Port Alfred 
• Addo Elephant National Park field trip
• Whale, dolphin and penguin island excursion
• Weekend trips away can include bungee jumping, canopy tours and shark cage diving
• Surf lessons in Port Alfred

When you send an email to us to enquire about joining this volunteer programme we will reply with a detailed information pack. This includes further information about living conditions, off time over weekends, transfers between the airport and the reserve etc.

Dates

There are no set arrival/departure dates for this project, but please note all arrivals are scheduled on Mondays. Departure days can be Fridays, Saturdays or Mondays (please note: no Sundays). Volunteers are required to sign an indemnity form acknowledging and accepting the consequences of working in close contact with wild animals. Applicants must be 17 years of age or older. The minimum time period for a booking is a two week placement and the maximum period is 12 weeks.

Please note that our activities are based on a stay of four weeks. Although many of the activities listed below may take place in two to three week placements, not all are guaranteed. So the longer your stay, the more in depth your experience.

Enquiries and Reservations

Prices include accommodation for the duration of your placement, all work activities on the reserve and three meals per day. Please email us to enquire about our weekly rate. Not included are entertainment expenses over weekends, socializing costs (drinks and meals volunteers choose to have while out in town) and transfers between the airport and the reserve. Please note we can unfortunately not offer any free placements in return for work.

Arrangements will be made by Kariega staff to collect incoming volunteers from Port Elizabeth Airport. Kariega is approximately 140 kms (two hours drive) from Port Elizabeth. Volunteers are to pay for the transfer to and from the airport themselves.

Contact

For a personalised answer to all your questions or to enquire about our latest prices, please feel free to email our Volunteer Programme Manager, Helena Warren, at volunteer@kariega.co.za or call directly on +27 76 100 6809.

Volunteer Testimonials

For more volunteer testimonials please visit our Volunteer Testimonial section on our blog.

"My time here has been full of new experiences. Meeting new people, seeing wild animals and helping within the community. I have learnt to be grateful for everything at home and gained skills that will last me a lifetime. Thanks to you, this time will be unforgettable & I will hopefully see you again in future!" Carlotta Diester from Germany, 1 July - 15 July 2024 (3 weeks).

"Last year I was here on the reserve as a guest... But I wanted more! I wanted to get to know the other side of South Africa. The commnity side of life and learning more about the animals here on the reserve. These 2 weeks here have shown me so much more! The people here give so much and have so much love and kindness in their hearts. I felt how grateful they were for what we are doing. It’s so nice to see that you can really change something, it was all so positive. My highlight was to put a tracking collar on a lion, in my dreams I couldn’t have imagined doing that one day. A ONCE IN A LIFETIME MOMENT! I am so grateful to have met all of you, your work is so important. Keep up the good work and we may see each other in the future again. I have so much respect for the people here at Kariega and in the community. It was an honour to be part of this. South Africa made a change in my heart." Betty Schwope from Germany, 23 September - 07 October 2024 (3 weeks).

"What an experience, a truly eye opening two weeks spent here. An amazing crew, friendly, talented and understanding. The reserve is beautiful and each and every animal within it. The people within the community are so full of light and love, it really makes you grateful for what you have. Will definitely be coming again!" Emily Gardner from the UK, 1 July - 15 July 2024 (3 weeks).

"Thank you so much for everything! The three weeks have been an amazing experience. I am so grateful for all the kind and inspiring people I met. I have learned so much from all of you. Everyday has been great. I have just been happy with you. I loved spending time in the community and the reserve. it was great to see all of the animals and getting in touch with the community of events like the Rhino Run. Everybody is doing such a good job here!" Zoe Klietz from Germany, 9 September - 30 September 2024 (3 weeks).

For more volunteer testimonials please visit the Volunteer Testimonial section on our blog.