Frequently Asked Questions about volunteering

Why do I have to pay to volunteer?

Essentially, volunteering as part of the project is free. We take care of permit costs, cover the costs of all staff, website hosting, and we do a lot of work to maintain training material, and also deal with all correspondence and various aspects of project management. However, our budget does not extend to being able to pay for all aspects of participation. As such you only need to pay for food, accommodation, and other services provided by the field station. The costs for such are very reasonable. In fact, there is probably no cheaper long-term monitoring project in the region.

What is the average team size?

Although the number of assistants and volunteers average about 6 throughout the year, and up to 12 towards the end of the year, the normal team size is 4 people from Apr – Oct and 6+ from Nov – March.

Will I have to work alone?

There are tasks where monitoring is usually done alone: Monitoring of the clay lick, parrot point counts, and looking for foraging parrots. These are conducted in relatively safe environments, and we do not leave people to work by themselves until they are confident of their surroundings and the tasks they are required to perform. Walking tasks are conducted alone if participants are confident enough to do this, but this is not obligatory. There should always be clear communication and division of tasks so that the field leader knows where team members are. Safety should always be a top priority in all tasks.