Wildlife Voluntourism Needs to Stop: A Rant
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- Опубліковано 28 лип 2020
- Guess what? Being expected to pay to volunteer sucks. Especially when it's basically just a resort that lets you take pictures with animals and calls it an internship. Let's talk about voluntourism, or volunteer tourism.
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As a potential Environmental Biology major, thank you for warning me! This reminds me of rich students getting into college by paying tutors, going to private school, and taking the SAT over and over and over when many poor students can't afford to take it more than once. When college is supposedly the "key" to success in the world, it seems like a lot of people have to pay to get in at all. Not to mention people like Olivia Jade. Hidden wealth discrimination in any form grinds my gears.
As a marine scientist, this video aggravated me because everything you said is so true and it feels like it's not going to change anytime soon. Thank you for talking about how problematic of an issue this is.
I am also a marine researcher, and I identify a lot with this, completely agreed!
Which branch I take for bechelor's degree
Yasss louder for the people in the back! I did a field study abroad through the Maderas Rainforest Conservancy in Costa Rica and I had to pay to go, but my money went directly into their conservation fund to re-forest their fragmented portion of the rainforest previously torn down for farms & to keep a family-ran house afloat. In turn, I got to do a field-study on primates in the area with a professor teaching you the ins and outs. Totally worth every penny, but it is PAINFUL knowing that these things are pretty much what you ~have~ to do now in order to have experience to even qualify for a job. 😒😒
THIS!! Is SUCH an important conversation! In 2017 I was extremely fortunate to participate in a "voluntourism" experience with an NGO in Honduras working with coral restoration. The experience was around $3-4,000 total and lasted 7 weeks. I gained an immense variety of skills, experience, and education and this truly provided the foundation for the rest of my research career. Building off that, I was able to have the fundamental experience to work with a professor and start an honors thesis as an undergrad. A year later I was able to use this powerful, experiential learning in a developing community to build the foundation for my Fulbright application, which ended up being successful.
Looking back on it now, it makes me sad and ashamed. It makes me so sad to know that this life-changing experience was HANDED to me, because I come from a comfortable family and privileged background. That I got a leg up on so many other students because I (my family) could afford it.
It's an important conversation to have though, because there is a lot of value in these experiences. I spent every day immersed in marine conservation. I witnessed first-hand major issues in the environment that I never would have even come close to comprehending through a textbook. I was able to interact with the community and learn and understand how the community deals with those issues.
And it's a complex issue, because the NGO we worked with does incredible conservation work, and is majorly supported by these privileged interns. So I still believe it is important that these opportunities exist (as long as they truly provide benefit to the volunteer), but these organizations should be making honest efforts to change this in any way they can. Maybe through scholarships or reduced-cost opportunities for diverse students, but something needs to change.
Thank you for spurring on the conversation!
Agreed! Its a very complex issue, as you said, many organsiations rely on this funding to be able to keep running since there is such little money in the industry! I completely agree it needs to change to be more inclusive to all income households but its not going to be simple!
Im so glad you addressed this! Nobody ever talks about this big issue and so many people are oblivious to it and might fall into the trap!
And let's also bring up the whole 'you need research experience' to get into graduate programs in most of the United States. The problem with this mentality is, a lot of us needed to pay for our own living expenses while in undergrad. There is an opportunity cost there. I could take on research in undergrad (and work for free) or I could go work retail and make $7.25/hour so I could eat this month. Some of us don't have the privilege of doing research in undergrad just because we also had to pay for food, rent, utilities, car insurance, and phone bills. Some of these professors have no idea what they are asking when they want all the research experience. There simply wasn't enough time to have a paying job, 5 credit hours, studying, and research.
Kinda the same in Australia where in order to get into a master of sciences program you NEED to have done research in your selected field in order to be High Degree Research student.
I 100% agree with you. As a person from a non-wealthy country, I've found interesting volunteer experiences in the field I'm aspiring to work on (conservation technology), but the cost is equivalent to a year's worth of college in my country, including rent. I tried contacting them, but they say that the cost of running an off the grid camp is too expensive, hence the cost. I even offered to camp in my own tent, but after that I was ghosted.
To me it's ridiculous to have to pay someone to work for them. A fair exchange, in my opinion, would be free shelter, food, and mentoring, in exchange for your labour.
I hope this will change in the near future.
I just saw this Congratulations on 20k!!!!! 💙💙💙
Thank you so much 😀 Im so excited!
Well deserved 💚
Amazing job I hope that your channel will grow even bigger
Thank you for this video! Great info! I agree that one of the biggest problems in the wildlife biology field is the fact that only wealth people are able to "make it". Not only does going to college and getting a (very comoetitive) degree cost you thousands of dollars, but you have to do internships and volunteer during your time in college. Many people have to work part time in order to afford college, and those people won't have time to volunteer/do internships. This problem alone cuts so many people off from pursuing a career in wildlife biology.
This is so true and frustrates me as someone who isn't able to afford these internships. It can feel like such a grey area for someone without experience as well. A few weeks ago a company well-known for this in the industry posted an online vet internship. For a SINGLE week, you work 40hrs and pay them over £1000. To repeat, for a week online. It chucked up a large (well-deserved) fuss in the FB group it was posted to but I just couldn't believe it.
This video was so timely for me! I am a third year Wildlife Biology and Conservation student and I’m doing research for where I can go next summer to get experience in the field. I am finding so many locations where you are paying $600-3000 to VOLUNTEER for weeks at a time! Paying for food and accommodations is one thing but I don’t want to be paying to work. Any suggestions on organizations that are ethical and provide an amazing teaching/learning experience?
Contact your professors, faculty, and PhD students in your university. They may know someone that needs volunteers. Don't be ashamed to contact them. Just be respectful, and explain your situation.
So glad you talked about this. I was looking for places (sanctuaries) to volunteer at during my masters, and ALL of them were demanding you pay to work there. Some of the best environmentalism websites support and link them. And I don't mean like $50 a day, they almost always start at $1000+ for two weeks of volunteering. If the weekly cost is less than $500, they absolutely do not allow you to work for less than 4+ weeks, so you're still paying them thousands of dollars for your labour, just so they can exploit your compassion and need for experience. Seriously? How is a student supposed to come up with that type of money?? And you have to live on their campgrounds (they don't even provide food or internet), so you're there volunteering full time, and can't leave to work to support living there. A lot of these "facilities" are bordering on private-owned road-side zoos, basically (think Tiger King), and get a lot of their "donations" from selling tickets to visitors. This is inclusive of horse care, to wolves, to everyday wildlife rehabilitation, it just keeps getting worse. Especially in Canada. I was so disappointed. This website, as great as it looks, basically sums up the entire issue www.volunteerworld.com/en/volunteer-abroad/canada
The fact that I have to pay $2000-3000+ for the privilege of helping some of these places out for 3-4 weeks is insane. Even though I essentially have a year long paid internship starting next year as part of my University course, I still have to try and find another year of work experience somewhere else in order to compete, so i'm pretty much forced in to doing it. I can totally understand paying for lodging and meals, but the charges are often far greater than that.
Congratulations on 20k!!!!! 💙💙💙You are one of my inspirations!!!!
Often I also see people (here in Germany) who dont want to work in the field they are volunteering in, but just want to do something to... idk make the world better. So “helping“ animals (or often children) in other continents for a few weeks over the summer or often in a gap year, just to feel good about themselves. Tbh, I almost did that as well... I just think about how useful these thousands of euros could be if you would just donate them to an ethical organisation instead of paying for your trip.
The worst thing is it’s only gunna get worse in this “social media generation” where people will literally do it to get instagram pictures
This is why I stopped posing in pictures with my study animals. The culture around this needs to change, particularly with large charismatic megafauna.
Kristina Lynn you have really helped me out a lot
I absolutely LOVED this video. Pretty interesting. I will be sure to remember to keep all of that in mind as take a path into wildlife biology, zoology, or conservation.
Thank you so much for talking about this!
I’ve been looking into internships/volunteering roles and SO MANY have a £2000+ fee whilst you aren’t payed at all and you are only there for three weeks. I always get so excited, until that is brought up. 😐 I don’t have a lot of money, I can’t afford that and it always irked me because it did seem like you are paying for a holiday 😬
Such an important message, thanks for sharing!
You’re input has personally been very valuable to me. I have a dream to run a successful wildlife sanctuary in the future, and I wanna make sure it’s not only ethical for the animals there, but for people who want to take part in running the facility and assist in conservation efforts. You made a lot of fantastic points that I didn’t even consider; with that being said, I’d like to ask you: if you were interested in going to a wildlife sanctuary, what would you personally want in that facility in terms of volunteer work and operations?
I'm torn. I wanna go into wildlife biology in North America but I'm from Europe. So if probably have to do a volunteer program to get experience with the wildlife out there.
as a highschooler in Los Angeles are there any good ways to get into volunteering or gaining experience in ecology?
Love your videos and listening to your view on environmental topics! I would really enjoy to see a video on the Japanese ship that has broke apart and is leaking oil near the Indian Ocean.
congratulations on 20 k subsribers. may you touch the 1 mn mark
I love you so much, I am trying my best to become a wildlife biologist math is getting me though and I have seen volunteerism and I looked into it its ridiculous, I was going to go to Australia to help with a kangaroo sanctuary and they wanted me to pay 2000 just got there and that was month.
How are we supposed to get work experience?
Hi i wanted to know if there is some job that cn take you to the natural reserves.. Like being an ecologist maybe Or anything
Someone said it! I almost fell to this trap because of my desperation to get some experience.
Yeeeeeees, i’m going into a bachelor in biology and ecology this fall and this makes me so mad
I totally agree. When I was looking for my internship within the environmental and nature field internationally I found so many organisations that looked suspicious and wanted payment for volunteering + extra money for food and accommodation. It is really sad that it is the new "standard" and many people don´t see the problems behind this. Luckily at the end I found an ethical NGO in Ecuador which also offers internships in exchange for money, but also provides valuable experience and demands interaction and cooperation of the participants with the locals. It´s so important to realise that the "western" way of doing things is not superior to other ways and cultures, and when people travel around the world for internships or volunteering they should learn about other cultures and meet with the locals as opposed to being only tourists and exploiting what they can. Thanks for this video!
I’m glad you found a neat opportunity in Ecuador! It’s so beautiful there 😍
Thank you for this video because its a very sensitive issue on the field of wildlife......... really it needs to stop
I am a mature student at my 2nd year of university studying Environmental Science in the UK and up until now I hadn't really researched how easy or hard it is to find a job in the field, I just followed my heart and joined this course. However, I have started looking at internships to do a work placement for a year and it is so discouraging! There are basically no paid positions (talking about the UK, London area, my university doesn't cover anything abroad because of Covid), I found some volunteering positions but these weren't a year long and there are a few voluntourism positions. I am not wealthy and I can't pay to volunteer, how am I supposed to gain experience? It is really depressing and it is making me reconsider university, as if I finish my degree without experience I will probably end up doing the same catering job I am doing now. Thank you Kristina for talking about this huge issue!
It's so frustrating, I know the feeling! How have you been searching, are you just using google? Sometimes these pay to volunteer places put out ads to appear on top. If your school expects you to do a year, then do they at least help with placements? what about your colleagues, where are they all volunteering? id think really small scale, local/regional organizations like the local parks department, native plant volunteer restoration societies, things like that. id forget the big glamorous projects and seek out the opportunities that often don't get many applicants. invasive plant removal, things like that.
Fantastic video. Many great points about western privilege and egocentrism. I learned about egocentrism in a anthropology class is college and I try to identify it in scenarios such as this. The issue of privileged students having the ability to fill their resume with international experiences creates an even bigger divide between students who cannot afford such experiences that employers are attracted to.
I volunteer for the National Parks. We don’t get paid, but the Park gets reimbursed for the hours we put in. The average pay is between $20-$25 an hour. I volunteered, so I don’t expect payment, but this just doesn’t seem fair. And the Park Rangers count on volunteers to do as much of their work as possible.
What do you think about the website called "Go Abroad?"
Please make a video on the internship program abroad....... best institute or places for work experience ,which help us to get higher knowledge about animals.....
I have mixed feelings. If someone is wealthy enough and it's a reputable, and ethical as you said, organization that will use the funds to support conservation efforts, and that's how the person wants to spend their money, I think that's great. It's a lot more positive than say, trophy hunting. It's like a travel vacation experience. I do agree with your concerns and reservations about it though!
How do you feel about wildlife biologists (or other positions in the field) looking for actual work internationally?
Actual work is great!! It is awesome and fun to work abroad! As long as you do your homework to make sure it's ethical from the perspective of the community, your own rights as a worker, and for the animals.
The very unfortunate thing is that some organizations TRULY need help and use international volunteers as a way to fund their facilities. I volunteered at Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in South Africa (videos on UA-cam), and it was an incredible experience to see the work people put in to rehabilitate primates.
Always go through the organization directly and not through a third-party site.
I'm planning on studying Biology but after my final exams (next year) I have a loooong vacation. But do you think that someone with a high school degree paying like 3000 for 4 weeks is exploitation and voluntourism? Because I feel like this form of voluntourism is more like more an adventurous holiday. What do you think?
It totally matters what you'll be doing. You'll need to research the organization where you'll be staying. Look for red flags like if they promote unnecessary wild animal contact/holding for taking photos, look at where the money goes, read reviews, do they have locals working there and leading projects or do they just staff the site with pay-to-volunteer foreigners? Would you be doing interesting, important and/or educational work or is it more like work they don't want to pay someone to do? Stuff like that can help you decide!
@@kristina_lynn Thanks for your response, I didn't put much thought into it but thanks to you I won't end up harming wildlife by paying for basically petting exotic animals.
It happened with me too.
I agree wholeheartedly.
I HATE voluntourism so much, and in marine science it is everywhere. There are so many 'jobs' I have seen that are unpaid or even PAY TO WORK positions that require 1year+ experience AND a degree. Even though I could probably afford the cheaper ones, I completely refuse to do them as they are so inequitable and often don't provide the scientific rigor that one needs for a career. Everything about the culture of voluntourism marine/conservation science--it is classiest, abusing of power, taking away local jobs, not terribly useful (often) and often stinks of neocoloniolism... During COVID I have even seen GVI advertising an online marine conservation internship which is entirely useless and costs THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS🙄
I've really noticed this for marine science. I'm not interested in doing marine work, but when I look at entry-level positions that sound neat in this field it always seems to be unpaid and sometimes without housing/stipend.
Well said.
Can you work as a wildlife biologist in the uk
There are wildlife biologists in the UK, so I say yes!
Yes the UK is usually hiring lots of ecologists and wildlife biologists, especially because we are updating a lot of our railways and need to ensure the wildlife surrounding them isn't being negatively affected. The catch is that the work is usually for specific animals (great crested newts, bats, aquatic invertebrates/fish, etc) The majority of the time is spent doing surveys with periods spent in the office doing write-ups.
Yep ecology jobs are everywhere but they’re all the same. Looking at bats and newts and dormice.
@@solarpunkalana Yeah that's the main reason i'm looking to get in to aquatic ecology. Mostly looks at fish/aquatic inverts, but also opens the door for wetfowl, newts and some coastal work. Much more diversity.
Hawken Valhalla that’s so cool! I want to get into rewilding and focus on bringing enigmatic species back (like the beaver lynx etc) but those jobs are so rare at the moment!
I thought the intent of voluntourism was for tourists to actually learn about the place they're visiting through helping out at that place. Man, the rabbit hole sure goes deep.
The UK is starting paid apprenticeships again instead of going to college. This is how most professions used ro be learned and shouldnstill be a regular thing. The United States should be doing the samenthing. We are overeducated. It makes people have too much debt too young and having to pay most of their lives for a degree most never use.
this is very random and unrelated but you have the most beautiful eyes omgg i dont see alot of people with green eyes but you look so beautiful :'))
Looks like XIX century phisicians
then you should start with carole baskin, don't you think
Internships are generally all exploitation :/ office type of jobs too but probably not to this degree lol
GIVE is a good one. Just have to pay for food, housing, and plane tickets.
What a beautiful woman, you deserve the best.
What's up guys. Who came from Discord 😂😂
All just a scam
Someone is making money off this and it aint us 😂
I value your opinion highly but I don't agree with you on this. I don't think this poses a huge problem. I think anyone who pays such an amount of money is aware that they're being "exploited". And they willingly go ahead with it. It's also a better way to see and support animals and their conservation than zoos. And many people are happy to pay this money because mostly a certain portion goes directly towards the organisation who is looking after these animals and that's an expensive business. I don't think there is any secret here. Company doesn't want to pay for labour, so brings in volunteers AND gets paid. I don't know if it is unethical if it's so obvious and the volunteers are so clearly aware. And they do get benefits out of it.
Now of course an organisation should be ethical, by treating their animals right and having an off hand policy (mostly), etc. And people should be educated about how to find out whether certain volunteer programmes are ethical.
I also agree with how this isn't really sustainable and ideally locals should be educated about local issues. But generally speaking, I don't think there is a huge, pressing issue with voluntourism.