Seychelles Environmental Conservation Short Term Internship

Overview

Join a team of international volunteers, interns, staff members and partners as a short-term intern to assist on priority conservation projects. Whilst working with an abundance of flora and fauna you'll be living the island life, surrounded by the striking azure waters of the marine park.



If you are looking to learn more about conservation, contribute to a meaningful project and spend some time in an incredible location, you don't have to look any further. You'll receive comprehensive training and mentorship, giving you the opportunity to learn skills in a wide range of activities to impact your future career.

Our monitoring program and work schedules change seasonally; which projects are available will depend on the time of year you visit - speak to our team for further details. As an intern, you'll be on rotation between the different projects which gives you the opportunity to really make a difference in a variety of different ways while at the same time giving you a broad range of professional skills and experience for your future career.

You could be working with critically endangered sea turtles which nest on the island; studying nesting success in Hawksbill and Green turtles, collecting data such as tag numbers, carapace (shell) measurements and number of eggs laid or carrying out nest excavations to measure hatching success. Or, you could be helping us track down Sickle-fin Lemon shark pups for our catch-and-release project, gathering population and growth rate information on this understudied species.

Or, get involved with recording the rate of coastal erosion with our beach profiling surveys, collecting growth and reproductive data for the endemic and unique Coco de Mer palm tree, assisting in our annual census of the island's Aldabra Giant tortoise population and keeping tabs on the growth rates of hatchlings and juvenile tortoises in the nursery.

The internship encourages participants to develop their own ideas and introduce new aspects to help further their contribution to the conservation of an incredible species. Interns will be given specific leadership responsibilities as well as weekly assignments and evaluation from their mentors, who will monitor their progress throughout their stay at the hub.

After a successful internship, qualifying candidates may be given the opportunity to work for GVI or selected partner organisations in Seychelles, or in other countries around the world where GVI operate. Over 50% of GVI staff are recruited from our alumni database. Qualification for positions is at the sole discretion of Global Vision International.

Highlights

• Living in one of the most visually stunning countries in the world, and working alongside local partners


• Gaining unbeatable practical field experience, skills and qualifications which will help you to boost your future career, whether it be in conservation or not.


• Getting up close and personal with the island's amazing wildlife: watch as a female Hawkbill turtle crawls out of the sea to lay her eggs, help sea turtle hatchlings in their journey to the sea or release a baby shark after collecting valuable measurements.


• Snorkeling in crystal clear waters alongside coral, fish, turtles, eagle-rays and reef sharks, and spotting dolphins from the boat.


• Experiencing breath-taking sunsets, making life-long friends and having an amazing and unique adventure amongst some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

Program Details

Life on the Internship

Curieuse Island and its surrounding waters are a national park, managed by our principal in-country partner, Seychelles National Parks Authority. Our beach-front camp is located on the white sand beach of Anse St Jose and overlooks Praslin (Seychelles' second largest island), a short boat ride away.

As an intern, you'll cover a wide range of conservation efforts as you rotate between projects, however the majority of your time will be spent on foot working in the forests and on the beaches, experiencing different field techniques and varied project sites.

As part of the GVI Leadership course, a lot of focus will be placed on developing your leadership and teamwork skillset. After returning to base from your various field work responsibilities, you will undergo extra training with your mentor. The Leadership course enables you to get more involved by equipping you with the skills to lead teams and supporting logistics. At the end of the internship, you will have the necessary skills, field based experience and certifications to begin a rewarding career in the conservation field of your choice.

At the end of each workday, you will return to our base with the rest of your team to relax together, socialise, and catch up on any studying or assignments you have. Camp duties are shared on a rotational basis, and accommodation is basic, shared dormitory style. Embrace it, this is real island living!

You should expect to work 5 ½ days each week, Monday to Friday, with weekends free for you to explore the surrounding area, study, snorkel, dive and just enjoy island living.

Project Details

On this internship, you will focus on several key conservation efforts within and around the Curieuse Island National Park which may include the following:

Lemon Shark Project 
The mangrove system on Curieuse Island is an important nursery ground for the sicklefin lemon shark (Negaprion acutidens). GVI Seychelles is conducting a capture and release study of the shark population using P.I.T. tags and acoustic tracking. Presently, very little is known about these creatures and we hope to answer many questions such as what time of the year do they pup, what is the survival and growth rate and in which areas are they found.

Coco de Mer Survey
The endemic Coco de Mer has the largest seed of all living plants and is found only on the islands of Praslin and Curieuse. Following on from a successful census of the trees covering Curieuse Island the GVI team is now conducting a growth study of these charismatic palms.

Mangrove Distribution Surveys
Curieuse Island has the largest remaining area of mangrove forest left within the Seychelles inner granitic islands. GVI Seychelles is investigating seedling recruitment and mortality, and further determining species distribution across the mangroves.

Giant Tortoise Census
Giant tortoises were relocated to Curieuse Island in the 1980s as part of conservation efforts to protect the species. Over the last thirty years, the population has reproduced successfully and spread throughout the island. GVI conducts an annual census of the tortoise population and records key measurements on growth and distribution.

Hawksbill Turtle Surveys
Curieuse Island has some of the most important hawksbill turtle nesting beaches within Seychelles. Throughout nesting season, GVI conducts patrols of the beaches, recording data on nesting turtles and tagging females.

In conjunction with the Seychelles National Parks Authority, you may also find yourself participating in various educational campaigns and activities including mangrove replanting, endemic flora re-vegetation, beach cleans and environmental education classes.

Curieuse's short, mid, and long-term objectives:

All of our programs have short, mid and long-term objectives that fit with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This enables us to report on our collaborative impact across the world in a streamlined manner, measuring which UN SDGs we are making a substantial contribution to. Furthermore, this will help our local partners and communities measure and visualize their contribution to the UN SDGs.

Upon arrival to base, you will be educated about the history of the UN SDGs. You will learn about the specific goals of your location, the long-, mid- and short-term objectives, and also clarification of how your personal, shorter-term involvement contributes to these goals on a global level.

Our aim is to educate you on local and global issues, so that you continue to act as active global citizens after your program, helping to fulfill our mission of building a global network of people united by their passion to make a difference.

Learn about the long-term objectives you will be contributing to in Curieuse:

1. Increase scientific knowledge and baseline data on the health of ecosystems on Curieuse Island
2. Increase awareness of GVI Seychelles projects and the ecological value of the Curieuse Island National Parks in-country
3. Build local capacity to support long-term conservation of biodiversity and sustainable community development in Seychelles
4. Continue to minimize our environmental impact on Curieuse Island and raise awareness of environmental issues amongst volunteers and visitors

How this project makes a difference:

Our partner on this programme is the Seychelles National Parks Authority. Data collected from your efforts will be passed to the Seychelles Ministry of Environment and participating NGOs to be used in creating local conservation policies and shared worldwide with other conservation teams and efforts.

In conjunction with our partners, we are one of the leading marine and terrestrial data collection organisations in Seychelles. We help local organisations execute projects that they do not have the manpower to do alone.

What's Included

What's Not Included

Exploration

Interning with GVI not only allows you to participate in programmes assisting disadvantaged communities or endangered ecosystems, but it also offers wonderful opportunities to travel in the local area in your downtime or further afield either before or after your programme. Below is some information on trips and travel options in the Seychelles.

Optional Side Trips

Interns may have the opportunity to visit the islands of Praslin and La Digue. Praslin is home to the Vallee de Mai (a world heritage site) thought by early explorers to be the original “Garden of Eden”, that is home of the famous Coco de Mer palm tree that produces the huge double nut famous for its provocative shape. La Digue is the picture perfect tropical island, small and intimate with quaint guest houses and arguably the most beautiful beach in the world - Anse Source d’Argent.

Public transport is cheap and frequent and many parts of Praslin can be explored easily by catching a bus. Many volunteers spend happy times bouncing around the island roads on buses taking in the beautiful scenery whilst enjoying the company of locals going about their daily business.

Further Travelling Opportunities

With 115 islands in the Seychelles group stretching over 800 miles, the possibilities of exploring this tropical paradise are endless. The inner islands, situated closer to Mahe are easily accessible by fast ferry. Praslin, La Digue, Silhouette, Felicity and Sister, to name a few, all have their own unique charms with hotels and guest houses within most people’s price range.

The outer islands such as Desroche, Bird, Dennis, Farquar and the Amirantes group are harder to get to and can only be reached by small plane or charter yacht. Most have small exclusive resorts which can be extremely expensive, but the marine environment and bird life at these outposts of civilization have been barely marked by the hand of man, and as such are in a pristine condition rarely found anywhere in the world today.