Ethical travel provider calls on gap year students
The premier of ‘The End of the Line’ at this year’s Sundance Film Festival has brought evidence of the devastating effects of over-fishing to a global audience. As the academic year comes to an end, ethical travel provider Frontier calls on students to consider a marine-based gap year project to help carry out vital research work in the ongoing marine conservation battle.
Dr Mark Steer, Research and Development Manager at Frontier comments; “The film has provided an acute insight into marine policies and brought the issues it raises to the attention of a mass audience. We trust it will also become the catalyst for people to begin making more informed choices about purchasing fish. However, we also hope that it will inspire many to become directly involved in the conservation of natural marine resources on volunteer programmes with established ethical companies such as Frontier”.
Frontier celebrates 20 years of operation this year and the number of their marine projects has grown considerably over this period. The first project Tanzania Marine Conservation and Diving, was established in 1989 and is now one of Frontier’s most popular and established programmes along with similar trips in Fiji and Madagascar. Marine research projects are also available in Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Greece, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Mozambique and Uruguay.
Frontier-Tanzania Marine Conservation & Diving is run in association with the University of Dar es Salaam and aims to provide the local government with the information they need to design and implement management plans for the future protection of this fragile marine ecosystem. Using the latest scientific techniques volunteers will gather data on the extensive coral reefs and the various communities existing on them. They will also explore and record the living organisms that inhabit the mangrove forests, dense seagrass beds and productive intertidals in the area.
Participants can also gain an internationally recognised BTEC Advanced Diploma (10 weeks or longer) or Advanced Certificate (4 weeks or longer) in Tropical Habitat Conservation. Scuba diving is an essential component to the underwater survey work carried out on Frontier’s marine research programmes therefore all volunteers will receive free PADI Advanced Open Water dive training worth approx £475.
Frontier is a registered PADI Educational Facility offering expert tuition by experienced Dive Officers and Dive Masters. Frontier also offers PADI Dive Master (£340), PADI Rescue Diver (£170) and PADI Emergency First Response (£85) qualifications.
The Frontier-Tanzania Marine Conservation & Diving Project departs monthly and is available for durations of 3 (£1495), 4 (£1695), 5 (£1895), and 6 weeks (£2095) in Jan, Feb, Apr, May, Jul, Aug, Oct and Nov, and 8 (£2295), 10 (£2595) and 20 weeks (£4195) in Jan, Apr, Jul and Oct.
Frontier’s marine conservation projects include comprehensive pre-departure support, free UK residential briefing weekend, travel and medical advice and documentation, equipment advice, discounted kit and a free Frontier T-shirt as standard. In-country volunteers receive food, accommodation, airport transfers, most ground transfers, local orientation, project training, free dive training to PADI Advanced Open Water, project equipment, project materials, 24-hour emergency support from project staff and representatives plus international HQ emergency support and backup. All prices exclude flights.
For reservations or more information visit frontier.ac.uk.
