What inspired you to work with Sainte Luce Reserve?
The protection of the environment in Madagascar has been a lifelong passion and I have given much of the last twenty years of my life to this cause. The beautiful rarity of the remaining littoral forests never fail to impress, and the animals in the forests, the fringing river, and the beach are unforgettable. A day at the reserve can involve a crocodile, lemurs, so many birds and reptiles, and maybe even a sea-turtle.
Myself and explorer Ash Dykes during his hike across Madagascar
Describe a typical day at work.
We work in travel and conservation, so our days are spent helping people to get around the parks and reserves of Madagascar to enjoy the wildlife and incredible biodiversity of Madagascar. My work specifically about our reserve consists of vetting volunteer applications, answering questions from incoming volunteers, planning the volunteer work schedule along with our amazing local Malagasy staff (all of whom are English-speaking), and the most fun part of my job is planning new developments at the reserve. At the moment we are upgrading staff accommodation, divining for water, and putting in some wells for fresh water at our rest-house on the beach, to make leisure time for volunteers more fun.
Why do you do what you do?
Seeing the flourishing community of wildlife at our reserve is the best reason for doing what I do. The animals have been growing in numbers since we started to conserve the area, and last week one troupe of lemurs wandered into the camp with four new babies on the mother's backs. To have responsibility for the safety and protection of this amazing wildlife is an honor and a privilege and makes every day at work worthwhile.
Farewell day for some volunteers
What is your favorite part of your job?
Planning new activities at the reserve and getting positive reviews from clients and volunteers are my favorite part of my job without question.
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
I am Australian but speak fluent Malagasy, so, my background helps me to integrate well with the Malagasy people and form good understanding of them, their lives, their troubles and problems, and their aims and aspirations. I fit in very well here but also, being foreign in this unusual land, I am able to understand the needs of incoming volunteers too, because I understand life outside Madagascar.
What are some current projects you are working on?
Currently we are working on planning new drinking water facilities at our reserve and creating new staff housing.
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
Pack light and bring a better torch and more batteries.
Why should someone choose Sainte Luce Reserve over competitors?
We are not a volunteering organization set up to make money from volunteers. We are a nature reserve that needs volunteers. We do not have any fancy offices or staff outside of Madagascar, and while of course it costs money to recruit and manage volunteers, 100% of your program fees are spent in Madagascar, local to the reserve that you are coming to help.
The river house where you can rest and read, relax and eat
What hopes do you have for the future for Sainte Luce Reserve?
We hope to have adequate volunteers to make our reserve self-sustaining in terms of funding all of our local staff and local costs, without subsidy. So, that means we want to build volunteer numbers to having four volunteers at the reserve at all times when we are open for volunteering. It is not a huge goal, our main goal is conservation of wildlife and habitat, but, to become financially self-sufficient from volunteering would be an excellent result.
What makes Sainte Luce Reserve easy to market to potential participants?
Our reserve is one of the most beautiful places in the world, a stunning pristine forest, on the edge of a 17 km-long beach on the Indian Ocean. Along the beach, there are no villages or houses, just us in splendid isolation, so our place is a rare paradise in this overpopulated world.
Volunteer recruiter Josh with some of the local staff at our volunteer-erected sea-turtle conservation sign
What is Sainte Luce Reserve's mission and how do you continue to work toward it?
Our mission is to protect the forest and the 450 hectares of wetlands and forest around us, into perpetuity. We work to making the reserve more sustainable both in terms of resource use, in financial terms, and we continue to protect the reserve and educate local people (especially children) about the value of conservation to the community.
What do you hope participants take away from Sainte Luce Reserve programs?
We aim to provide life-changing experiences where participants get a real feel of grass roots conservation and life in a Malagasy rural community.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Travel in the developing world, or with disadvantaged people, or in communities way less developed than where we came from, and leaving behind a positive impact, is to me, meaningful.