Thinking about Volunteering?
Crimson Finch
Mornington Sanctuary
Australian Wildlife Conservancy is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation of Australia’s threatened wildlife. AWC now owns and manages 21 properties covering more than 2.5 million hectares around Australia. Volunteering provides an exciting opportunity to assist AWC’s dedicated field staff in saving Australia’s endangered wildlife.
Volunteering opportunities exist across a broad range of activities. These can range from biodiversity surveys to on-going land management work.
Select events will be advertised through the year – generally those requiring groups of volunteers, specific skill-sets or an extended commitment of time.
On-going volunteering opportunities can be arranged with individual sanctuaries where a volunteer program is currently in place.
If you are interested in volunteering, please complete a volunteer application and follow the instructions below on How to Apply. The more information you can provide about your interests, skills and timing (availability length and dates) the better chance we will have in matching you with a suitable opportunity.
How To Apply
Please complete the Volunteer Application Form and return to:
Email: volunteering@australianwildlife.org
Fax: +61 8 9380 9631
Mail: PO Box 8070, Subiaco East WA 6008
Upcoming volunteering opportunities
Select volunteer opportunities will be advertised throughout the year. We will email volunteers, with relevant skills and an interest in the sanctuary with the advertised opportunity, who have submitted a volunteer application form, but kindly request you check back on this page regularly as this is not currently an automated process.
Please note that there is generally a high demand and limited places for these opportunities, and we will do our best though we appreciate your interest and support.
Autumn in the Mallee, Scotia (March - April 2010)
A month long Working Bee at Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary: Saturday 15th March to Thursday 15th April 2010
After the heat of summer and before the cold winds arrive from the interior, why not volunteer for a while at Scotia. The days will still be warm, the nights will be cooler and the night skies will be glowing. At Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary, we are proposing to have an on-going Working Bee, in an effort to prepare for the next twelve months. This will consist mainly of activities that will give Scotia a bit of a face lift including: fence removal, goat trap construction, painting, building maintenance, and clearing the track margins. Volunteers are welcome for a week or more, and will have the opportunity to see some of Australia’s rarest animals. Trade qualified volunteers always welcome. Places are limited.
Please follow How To Apply instructions – tick the box Other (specific event) and quote event code: Sc0310.
Experienced Arid Zone Birders wanted, Lake Eyre region (2 – 25 May 2010)
Bird surveys at Kalamurina Wildlife Sanctuary
Kalamurina Wildlife Sanctuary is once again experiencing the benefits of further rainfall, with 96mm falling in 3 days. The transformation to the normally arid landscape was immediately apparent in both flora and fauna variety and numbers.
From 2 – 25 May AWC ecological staff will be conducting a bird survey at Kalamurina. They require excellent bird surveyors with experience in the arid zone to assist, either for the entire 4 weeks or for a period of 2 weeks (preference for the entire time).
There are 120 sites, each will be surveyed 3 times. Surveys will run from dawn until mid-morning, whereupon volunteers return for brunch and free time in the afternoon. Each site will be surveyed by a team of 2, with one person surveying inside a 2ha area and the other outside.
Volunteers and staff will spent about 2 weeks camping near White Bull Bore, and the other 2 weeks staying at the Kalamurina cottage and shearer’s quarters. Camping gear is essential, and volunteers will need to bring enough food for the duration.
Kalamurina is extremely remote, and is therefore suited to volunteers who have previously travelled to Central Australia and have remote travel and camping experience (environmental and safety considerations). Couples welcome.
Please follow How To Apply instructions – tick the box Other (specific event) and quote event code: KAL0510. Be sure to include details about your previous birding experience and any past AWC volunteer work.
Journey to the red centre, Newhaven (June 2010 - January 2011)
Vegetation data-entry offers opportunities to enjoy some time at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary.
Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, owned and operated by AWC in conjunction with Birds Australia, offers shimmering salt lakes, pastel ochre clay plans, vibrant red parallel dunes and is home to many arid zone specialist birds such as the delicate Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, the musical Banded Whiteface and the bold Dusky Grasswren and is currently enjoying an explosion of new life with normally dry desert lakes and swamps filling after receiving over 200mm of rain.
Danae & Josef, Newhaven’s Sanctuary Managers, are seeking volunteers to assist with data-entry. Volunteers will need to have a good understanding of Excel and intermediate computer skills, and will be provided with access to a furnished self-contained transportable for the duration of their stay. As there is a generous amount of data to be entered, opportunities of varying lengths (minimum 2 weeks) between June – mid August 2010 and October 2010 to January 2011 can be organised to suit. Volunteers are also invited to intersperse the computer work by enjoying some of Newhaven’s self-guided tours.
Newhaven is considered relatively remote, and is therefore suited to volunteers who have previously travelled to Central Australia and have remote travel experience (environmental and safety considerations). Couples welcome. Note: if you would like to help out but can’t make it to Newhaven, you may also be able to assist remotely from home.
Please follow How To Apply instructions – tick the box Other (specific event) and quote event code: NHV0610
Home Tutoring at Marion Downs, Central Kimberley (Ongoing throughout 2010)
Assist children living in a remote area with their home schooling and spend time at Marion Downs Wildlife Sanctuary.
The 289,000ha Marion Downs Wildlife Sanctuary is a former pastoral property located in the Central Kimberley that was purchased by Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) in 2008. Marion Downs is a hotspot for the wildlife of the Kimberley and is home to more than 30 species of mammals, over 180 bird species, 20 frog species and 75 reptile species.
AWC staff member Lindsay Malay and his young family live and work at Marion Downs. In 2009, AWC and the Malay family established a School of the Air program for their children Sally, Helena and LJ. This year, Sally and Helena have moved to Victoria to undertake schooling, but their younger brother Ralph now joins LJ on the daily School of the Air sessions. The Malay’s are seeking people with experience in teaching to volunteer their assistance by home tutoring Ralph and LJ in conjunction with the School of the Air program.
Marion Downs is fairly remote (by road it lies about 460 km (approx 8 hours drive time) southwest of Kununurra or 540km east of Derby and is reached by the unsealed Gibb River Road and the Tablelands Track). Therefore this position is ideally suited to volunteers who have remote travel and camping experience (environmental and safety considerations). An attractive campsite can be made available beside the Wood River. Couples welcome.
Please follow How To Apply instructions – tick the box Other (specific event) and quote event code: MD0310.
Anybody interested in this opportunity will also be asked to register through REVISEWA (Retired Educator Volunteers for Isolated Students Education). REVISEWA have the capacity to provide travel assistance and ensure participants are appropriately registered and have necessary references and clearances.
Other
More>> Scotia Volunteering Page
More>> Buckaringa Volunteering Page
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