Monitoring and Protecting Biodiversity
Coordinator | Beatriz
Coordinator | Beatriz
Book with Flex Option!
Choose new departure dates or change to a different volunteer program at no extra costs.
Highlights
It is possible to experience one of the most amazing spectacles worldwide: thousands of sea turtles nesting at the same time along the beach in a phenomenom called arribada.
You will experience the conservation work, how nature is being threatened and the effort of the local groups to protect natural areas and threatened species.
Surronding by nature, you will live without stress, just feeling the moment, being influenced by the moon and living an easy life.
People from the coast are the best for making you laugh. They will make a joke for everything and you won't be able to stop laughing
With your visit, you will make possible to motivate local people to make a move, to being aware of the threats of nature and you will empower them to conservate their natural resources
We work for the conservation of millions of sea turtles by patrolling the beach and relocating nests, of crocodiles, mangroves and hundreds of jungle species.
This volunteer program is especially suitable for:
Age 18+
Singles
Couples
Families
Groups
50+
- The mission of the project is to support and strengthen the conservation work of the Escobilla indigenous community cooperative by organizing the management of their activities, such as patrolling the beach, collecting nests to protect them from poachers, as well as measuring the impact of the cooperative work through releasing hatchlings.
In addition, the project will be focused in raising awareness in the community and visitors about the sea turtle species and their threatened state.
This project covers one of the most important beaches for olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) worldwide, since they have a synchronous mass-nesting behaviour in Escobilla which occurs just in twelve beaches over the planet, termed arribada. This beach is also relevant for the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).
The main activities of the projects will be:
- Monitoring and developing biological management of sea turtles nesting to collect data of the natural area and sea turtle populations conservation status.
- Patrolling and collecting nests emphasizing the efforts during solitary nesting for over 20 km to protect sea turtles and their nests from poaching
- Beach cleaning and restoration of the natural area to maintain the area without obstructions for the sea turtle nesting
- Training and involving people from the community in the conservation field
- Doing environmental awareness with local people and visitors to avoid the perturbance of the sea turtles
Sea Turtle Conservation
Waste Reduction
Leatherback Turtle
Ocean Cleaning
Olive Ridley Turtle
Green Sea Turtle
Typical day
When the sun is rising, the light wake you up from your bed. It's 7:00 am, the birds are singing and they are the only thing breaking the silence of nature. Your room is next to a lake, surrounding by mangroves, so you want to walk just to feel the morning.
After a walk waiting for your team to wake up, you start to help the Oaxaqueña cook to do the breakfast with your team, cutting fruits and making the tomato sauce for the entomatadas.
During the morning, if you want to do an specific activity depending on your skills, you will be able to work on that, maybe editing some videos of the conservation work or designing a poster for the visitants. Some days, you will be part of the beach cleaning or environmental education activities. Some of you, will go with the person in charge of the hatchery to check if there are newborn sea turtles.
In the afternoon, visitants start to come. You can stay in the hatchery, next to the beach, supporting the guides with the visitants if it's needed.
The real work starts in the night for just of 2 people of your team. The group starts to patrol in quad about 9 pm or, depending on the moon, after the midnight and they can drive over 20 km of beach looking for nests or sea turtles during their nesting.
You won't patrol everynight, you will rotate with your mates in order to have energy to work in other areas.
Depending on the behaviour of the turtles, you can experience:
- Arribada, when thousands of sea turtles are nesting massively (few days per month from July to March)
- Newborn sea turtles in natural habitat. After 45 days of an arribada, millions of sea turtles born in order to start their lifes in the Pacific Ocean (few days per month from July to March)
- Leatherback sea turtle nesting, the biggest turtle in the world (from December to February)
Free-time activities
There are a lot of free time activities around:
- Waterfalls
- Observation of marine fauna by boat
- Puerto Escondido has a lot of places to do extra activities such as yoga, sports, international visitants, etc
- Bioluminiscence in water bodies
- Riding
- Crocodile observation by boat
- ....
Water Sports
Swimming
Sightseeing
Diving/
Snorkling
Snorkling
Shopping/
Souvenirs
Souvenirs
Hiking
Riding
Yoga/
Meditation
Meditation
Requirements
In order to join the program you need to be at least 18 years old on the program start date. There might be exemptions if you can provide the permission of your legal guardian(s) or if your are accompanied by your parents.
You need to speak English (intermediate level)
or Spanish (basic level)
Passport copy and vaccination international report
No restrictions. Helping hands from all over the world are welcome.
Education; environment; anthropology; Marketing; Bussiness administration; Art; ...
Your helping hand will be required on
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
from
15:00
- 20:00
What's Included
- Shared cabañas with private bathroom in the middle of nature, next to the lagoon in Escobilla.
- Shared cabañas with common bathroom in the indigenous community of Ventanilla.
- 3 meals per day, elaborated together with an Oaxacan cook to learn cooking traditional Mexican food.
- Local guide who will teach you to understand nature in a completely different way.
- Activities coordinator to unlock your full potential
- Basic material to work and for common using.
- Accompaniment in public transport between the conservation projects
It's possible to pick up you during the morning and the afternoon, until 17:00 from Puerto Escondido airport
Rooms are called "Cabañas".
The rooms have three double beds and one bathroom in Escobilla. In Ventanilla, the bathroom is for common use and the have two double beds. They will be shared with part of your team, if you come in the 15 days group volunteering program :)
If you come during the individual volunteering, it's possible that you have to share your room with another volunteer.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be provided and it's possible to serve vegetarian food.
In order to know more about local food and to share more time with the group, the volunteers will support the cook in elaborating the meals. We will rotate the tasks among the team.
Limited access at the project site
Visa, flights, travel insurance or vaccinations are NOT included in the program fees.
The nearest airport is Puerto Escondido Airport (PXM) in Puerto Escondido. We assist you to find cheap flights to Mexico.
Going abroad is an adventure and it is always best to be prepared. Sudden illness or injury, cancellation or theft - a travel insurance for Mexico provides security and is a plus to have.
If you are intending to volunteer in Mexico you should seek medical advice before starting your social journey. Check your required vaccinations for Mexico.
Dates & Fees
NO CREDIT CARD FEES
Details on arrival
Calls for volunteering groups:
💀🔆23 of October to 6 of November🔆💀
🎆🔆19 of December to 2 of January🔆🎆
For individuals, you are free to come when it's possible for you!
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
1 - 10 weeks
Program fees
1 week
(min. stay)
$430
2 weeks
$798
10 weeks
(max. stay)
$3,990
Average fees
$415
/week
Please note that the above shown program fees are estimated.
Tartarukus
will let you know about the final price during your application process.
The deposit is simply to reserve your volunteer placement. Payments are handled by PayPal, our trusted global payment provider. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can also pay using a credit card.
Your final payment will be agreed with Tartarukus during the application process. Common solutions are either via bank transfer or a cash payment at the project site.
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What are people saying about Volunteer World?
Monitoring and Protecting Biodiversity
We work for the conservation of millions of sea turtles by patrolling the beach and relocating nests, of crocodiles, mangroves and hundreds of jungle species.
$415/week
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