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The French are the
top visitors of this page ! for this reason we invited Elodie Buard, who
has been with us, to speak her mind about our work:
"...Je pense que
c'est une expérience unique, à vivre, et que les participants
deviennent sensibles à la rareté des animaux, la protection
que leur offre la forêt, la déforestation... On ne peut pas
repartir sans opinion de cette expérience."
Elodie Buard
IGN - France
What
specialists are saying
about our expeditions:
Brilliant concept, great implementation and impressive follow up. I know of several similar initiatives that attempt to bring together science and tourism, but they usually start and end at the experience that tourists gain during the trip.
Koustubh Sharma
Snow Leopard Trust – India
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This is a great idea because it takes the adventure-seeking tourist on an exciting expedition, and at the same time it helps protect endangered animals. The tourists are then able to become, as the organization states, “part of the research crew.”
Carl Steinberg
Spokane River Forum - US
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I find your project interesting not only because I am personally
interested in zoology and endangered species(it is my hobby), but also
because your project involves so many activities. I especially enjoyed
reading about those activities during which the tourists are personally
involved in the conservation, data collection, etc. I consider this as
the best way to educate people about the nature and enable them experience
what it really takes to conserve it and take proper care of both the flora
and fauna. This is the first time I have ever read about tourists being
actually members of the team who analyzes the area and its problems and
I think it is great.
Denisa Dockalova
Bohemian Switzerland Public Benefit Corporation - Czech Republic
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I think it is really interesting that tangible things come from your program. Not only are you trying to conserve wildlife, but the people on your tours go out and write articles that inform the world about the endangered species. I really admire that you watch the animals in their natural habitats while observing their daily lives. The authenticity of your tour sounds absolutely incredible.
Erica Wertheim
EarthCare - US
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GET TO KNOW US BETTER ! see a beautiful, professional film production at one of our study sites in southern Brazil in search of pumas. Click here.
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Participate
in the tiger
|
Land
Trust for Buy a parcel of the total land and be entitled to schedule prolonged visits to the wildlife reserve throughout the year, at no cost. Cats
need large territories to live. We are selecting key areas to establish
reserves and permanent base camps, in the Araucaria and Atlantic
Rainforests of Brazil. We also plan to seek areas in Sumatra. Contributions
are tax-deductible. |
b i e n v e n u e - w e l c o m e - w i l l k o m m e n
CONSERVATION EXPEDITIONS
Track jaguars, tigers and other endangered species, gathering information that will be used towards their conservation in the wildActivities include : search jaguar and tiger signs in dense forest trails in the company of experienced researchers, or with your own group after just 1 week of training • visit wonderful natural places • learn how to navigate in the forest using GPS and compass • go into overnight camps, night walks and boat rides to look for animals • install and check remote-triggered cameras that take pictures of wild animals • visit other important conservation projects • safely enjoy the companionship of a selected group of people in a remote area • organize information on tiger and jaguar ecology at the end of each day.
Sumatran tiger expedition - March 2011
Aims - Conservation of the Sumatran tiger, one of the most endangered tiger lineages in the world, and the only one still inhabiting an island. We are willing to help WWF's Save Sumatra program, and local agencies to protect the species. We'll also be recording forest elephants and clouded leopards on forest trails while in central Sumatra, to cite just a few of the amazing species we are aiming to record.Where - Sumatra, an exotic and nearly unknown paradise in the Indonesian archipelago, near Bali and Borneo. If you aim to travel before or after the expedition, consider, besides the islands mentioned, to spend a day at the fantastic huts built over still waters quite near our destination.
Expedition fee - € 750.00 (£ 660 and 1,050 USD) for 7 days (beginner level), and € 1,225.00 (£ 1,070 and 1,700 USD) for 14 days, sign in fee included (€ 250.00). Kids from 12 to 15 have 25% discount.
Jaguar expedition - From Aug to Sep 2010
Aims - Conservation of jaguar in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil, perhaps the most endangered jaguars of all. The Atlantic Rainforests of Brazil, rated amongst the 'hottest' biodiversity hotspots ecosystems in the world with highest overall number of species and endemic species, is also one of the most threatened. Luxuriant and yet unbelievably near urbanized centers. We'll also be recording pumas, ocelots, tapirs, and many other species.
Where - Within the Atlantic Rainforest, the Serra do Mar mountain range is the best remaining jaguar habitat, located in southern Brazil, south from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. You should land in Curitiba, where we'll pick you up at the airport. A main attraction is the train Serra do Mar Express that goes straight from Curitiba to our study area, and ranked by Lonely Planet as one of the major attractions in southern Brazil. During this trip, consider also visiting the Iguazu Falls, located to the west of our destination. All expeditions are run at an yearly basis. Area free of high-risk tropical diseases such as malaria and dengue.
Expedition fee - € 750.00 (£ 660 and 1,050 USD) for 7 days (beginner level), and € 1,225.00 (£ 1,070 and 1,700 USD) for 14 days, sign in fee included (€ 250.00). Kids from 12 to 15 have 25% discount.
Our camp is rustic, yet comfortable, providing direct contact with nature.
Scientists are involved in every aspect of our expeditions, from project authorship, initial planning and logistics, to study design and data analysis. Currently, Dr. Marcelo Mazzolli with over 20 years of research on wild felids and an expert jungle trekker will be overviewing all the operations. No intermediate managers or operators. That means that our expedition will provide the highest output in terms of conservation value. We are truly committed with every conservation expedition we are inviting you to join. You are not required to have any specific skills or qualifications. Anyone can join.
Group sizes and length of participation
Group sizes will vary but we have stipulated a maximum of 10-12 people per group. Length of participation may vary from 6 to 14 days. We split the experience into two levels, beginner level up to 6 days, and advance level up to 14 days.
Up to six days - At beginner level participants will receive basic research training and will work mainly near Base Camp, installing camera-traps (remote cameras automatically triggered by animal movements), while finding and mapping survey routes.
After six days - Those that wish to stay longer will automatically migrate to advanced level after 6 days. At this level, participants are already prepared for overnight camps or other searches further from base camp. An example of overnight camp would be to travel by boat to a distant island looking for jaguars in areas not surveyed, and in the case of the tiger study, to join The Tiger Patrol Unit and visit old tribal villages, or visit WWF's Base Camp to survey their study area and exchange information and experience.
Full expedition document (tiger and/or jaguar project)
Write to us and ask for the full expedition document ! We'll be glad to hear that you are interested to learn more about one of our expeditions. The expedition document has the complete project information, with detailed maps, base camp description, flight information, meeting location, safety procedures, and so on. Click here to ask for the full expedition document. Also browse below for further details and check our brochure.
If you want to join now, please download and fill in the attached form with your information.
The tiger in the Rainforest of Sumatra, Indonesia
The tiger in the island of Sumatra, Indonesia: the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape
Where is Sumatra? it is located southern to India and Malaysia, in
the Indonesian archipelago, which also includes Borneo, Java, and
Bali.
The expedition will last up to 12 days. Housing, food, and transportation are included from the day the expedition begins. The expedition fee do not including airfare rates. Roundtrip airfare rates to the meeting location in Sumatra will vary from about 700 GBP (from LA) to 800 GBP (from London). Detailed information on the expedition itinerary can be found in the expedition document. To receive the expedition document, please ask here .
Background information
We are currently in contact with WWF Indonesia and the Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA) to join them in their research in the Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape (BTL), central Sumatra.
The map above displays Tiger Conservation Landscapes (TCLs) in Sumatra, highlighting the Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape (TCL 07), 7,106 km2, encompassing a National Park (NP) with same name, 1,300 km2 in size. This TCL is considered a Global Priority for tiger conservation, which are those TCL with the 'highest probability of tiger persistence over the long term' (Sanderson et al., 2006).
The jaguar in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil
This expedition is the continuation of a ground-breaking project that begun in 2005 aiming the conservation of the Atlantic forest jaguar. The research so far has resulted in two reports, a presentation at an international conference, two per-reviewed publications in periodic scientific journals, and participation in two action plans.
Jaguar photographed
by automatic cameras
placed on the trails
The Atlantic
forest jaguar is isolated into small sub-populations and from larger
continental populations. If directed efforts are not allocated immediately
to its conservation it will no longer be able to persist in this ecosystem.
We'll be studying in the Serra do Mar mountain range, the most important
site for jaguar conservation within the Atlantic broadleaved forest.
The study site is known for its outstanding beauty, with densely forested mountain ranges and mangrove lowlands reaching the Atlantic ocean. Data collected by the expedition will form the basis for the management and protection of the jaguar and its habitats within this highly threatened ecosystem.
Previous expeditions
Expeditions are conducted every year since 2006 to the Atlantic forest. They were a superb experience for everyone. Unlike a regular tour, people that joined the expedition were considered as research collaborators once they had been trained, facing truly new, unexpected challenges, such as exploration of new research areas and base camps that none of us had been before. Those that dared, managed to navigate through the forest and rivers by their own, in small groups, without the presence of a local guide, but always under safe conditions. The expeditions re-confirmed the presence of jaguar in the Serra do Mar mountain range and estuarine areas near it.
The situation of the jaguar population in the Atlantic Forest is a reason of concern, as less than 200 animals has been estimated to persist, due to the presence of intensive human occupation in the area. The following picture is a confirmation of their presence, as it was their vocalization, heard during the night while we were in our tents.
Ocelot photographed
by a camera-trap
during an expedition.