Date: 25th June 2015
Young Kiwis follow Prince Harry’s example and volunteer for wildlife conservation.
Hundreds of young New Zealanders are following Prince Harry’s lead and volunteering to work on wildlife conservation
projects overseas.
Prince Harry has left the armed forces after ten years and this month will begin a three-month placement helping experts
with front-line conservation projects in Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana.
According to Vicki Kenny, the founder of the International Working Holidays (IWH), the specialist overseas employment
agency: `New Zealanders are increasingly bypassing the bright lights of London or New York to work on conservation
projects overseas. You don’t have to be a Prince to make a difference. There are some unique opportunities to help save
endangered species on offer to young Kiwis planning their Big OE such as the largest giant panda reserve in China, an
elephant sanctuary in Thailand, a rhino anti poaching initiative in South Africa and turtle rescue in Fiji.
`We’re passionate about animals and that’s reflected by the growing numbers who are using their gap year or time before
further education to work with conservation organisations around the world.’
She adds: `Many of our projects are unique. The African rhino project is tackling the very pressing issue of poaching.
Volunteers are expected to be ready to dive in and get involved with everything that is going on at the project, which
is quite physical and volunteers must be ready to roll up their sleeves and participate. In the last two years the
volunteer work at the Panda base in China has contributed to the doubling of the panda population - which is an amazing
achievement. The numbers are now such that the Panda Reserve can at last experiment with returning them to the wild.’
But Vicki Kenny warns: ` Everything will be arranged for Prince Harry’s time in Africa, but while travelling to and
finding volunteer projects in some of these remote parts of the world is a big adventure, the Prince is not the only
person who does need expert help in finding the right placement. We make it easy to organise and find the perfect
volunteer holiday so you can experience a life changing adventure overseas, safely and legally.’
ends