[Coral-List] Coral Restoration Volunteer Opportunity

Victor Bonito staghorncoral at yahoo.com
Mon Feb 12 05:27:03 EST 2018


In support of the 3rdInternational Year of the Reef, Reef Explorer Fiji is offering volunteer opportunitiesfor students, recent graduates, and other interested parties to assist with ourcoral restoration program during the 2018 field season (30th April - 30th September2018). 

Globally, coral reefs are in a severe decline due to multiple factors includingoverfishing, coastal development, thermal stress, disease, and others. Ourcoral restoration program is based along Fiji’s beautiful Coral Coast area andis part of a larger community-based coral reef management effort beingundertaken in conjunction with the traditional fishing rights owners of theKorolevu-i-wai district to address the threats facing local reefs. The programaims to enhance reef ecosystem function by restoring coral populations whilebuilding coral community resilience and diversity. 

Volunteers will have the opportunityto learn more about coral reefs and community-based marine conservation effortsin Fiji while working with our Fijian team to:

·        Outplant nursery-reared corals atrestoration sites,

·        Reattach wild coral colonies andlarge fragments found detached from the reef, 

·        Restock our nurseries with newly propagatecoral colonies, and 

·        Conduct maintenance on our coralnurseries and at our restoration sites. 

No prior experience is required, butinterns must be aged 18 or older, comfortable swimmers, and excited aboutspending several hours a day in the water working on the project. Allwater-based activities will be conducted at snorkeling depths in the shelteredlagoon - we will not be using SCUBA gear during this project. Volunteers may beassigned additional activities to support our marine management activitiesbased on their background, skills, and abilities. Project activities run fromMonday to Friday with, weather permitting, roughly 2.5 to a maximum of 4 hoursin the water. Interns will have weekends free to explore the beautiful surroundingarea.

Volunteers will be accommodated atour beach-side field station where they will have access to kitchen and laundryfacilities, wireless internet, as well as use of our kayaks. While we have hadgreat interest in our program, we can normally only accommodate up to 2volunteers at a time (3 maximum).

Cost: FJ$1450/week (~US$700.00) VATinclusive price; 10% discount given for 3 or 4 weeks of volunteering, 20%discount given for 4 weeks or more of volunteering.

Cost includes: 1) Accommodations atour field station (own bedroom) and use of shared bathroom, kitchen and laundryfacilities, 2) wireless internet access (up to 2GB/day), 3) tools, snorkelingequipment, and materials for our project activities, 4) transportation with ourteam to/from our field work sites, 5) logistical supportand all related training for restoration activities, and 6) a $250/weekdonation to our coral restoration project fund.

To apply, please send your CV alongwith a brief (max 1 page) letter of intent outlining a) your motivation,interest, and expectations, b) prior work or travel, or any skills/experience, thatmay be relevant, c) challenges you might face and how you expect to adapt andadjust, and d) the dates that you are interested to volunteer (fixed orflexible) to Reef Explorer's Director, Victor Bonito at staghorncoral at yahoo.com,or through a private message on our Facebook page (Reef Explorer Fiji Ltd.).All questions or enquiries about the volunteering opportunity can be directedsimilarly.



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