By Richard Munday,

One of our ongoing projects for the last six months has been the GPS mapping of the entire reserve.

This project has been planned in three stages. Stage 1 was the complete mapping and marking of all the trails around the reserve, which meant walking around all the trails and stopping every 50M waiting for a GPS signal and then moving on to take the next point. Now as you can imagine, with about 30 KM of trails to mark we knew it would take a long time! But thankfully we had the help of Rike Becker, a student who is now in Argentina, who took charge of the entire project and managed to complete this stage for us.

Stage 2 was the marking of all the main structures of the reserve, platforms, buildings, bridges and then putting all the data into one spreadsheet so that we could make the computerized version of the map. Again this wasn’t a huge task, although we probably had about 1000 points in total and probably a lot more than that. We managed to have the basic map made up with about two weeks of work, the next stage of things was to link all the points together so that the trails were actually lines and not just dots, making sure each trail was coloured differently, adding special colour points for bridges, platforms and buildings and then adding trail names, the river, the creek, a compass, and the main key.

What a cool map!

Stage 3 which is still being planned out, is the identification and marking of key areas of botanical interest. In February we should have had several botanists planning to visit us, but due to the flood and the resulting high swamp levels, we decided it would be best to delay their arrival until we could use the forest properly. When the levels have dropped again, the botanists will be able to help us identify primary and secondary forest, swamp areas, dense forest, clear forest, even down to different types of trees, this again is going to be a pretty big task and will no doubt take a good few months to complete it. But once the work is done we will have a complete map, which we can use for many different things like navigation, identification of good sites for certain projects such as mist-netting and auto-camera sites, and even new observation points.

You can learn more about our other projects on our Conservation Program in Peru here

The Canadian Projects Abroad team will be hosting an Open House on April 10th from 4-8 pm at our Toronto Office just south of Yonge & Bloor. This is a great opportunity to meet the staff and former volunteers who will be able to answer questions about our projects and destination countries. BBQ fare will be available with all proceeds being directed to the refurbishment of Peruvian schools in the Sacred Valley.

If you can attend, please RSVP here

I know Rob and Kyra would love to have a great turn out!

Volunters at Knysna

For our March Volunteer Trip, we cruised down the Garden Route in search of beaches, relaxation and fun! On the N2 freeway we passed through the vineyards, down to the coast to Mossel Bay where the official start of the Garden Route begins. Passing through thick forests, floral sanctuaries on the windy, rugged coastal highway, we finally arrived in Buffalo Bay! Buffalo Bay is an oasis for those who really want to get away from it all, the white sandy beach stretches for miles, the surfing is impeccable and development is scarce! We stayed the night in the Buffalo Bay Backpackers, where we met people from all over the world, tasted a traditional South African braai supper and watched the bright stars before heading off to bed.

We made a bold excursion into the Goukamma Nature and Marine reserve which is famous for its marine life, bottle-nosed dolphins and whales off the shoreline and coastal fynbos. We decided to tackle the Coastal Hike, a 10km trek in the hot sunshine! Before beginning our hike, we realized that in order to even get to the trail head we had to use our woman (and one man) power to pull the “ferry” across a river! We managed to do this with no casualties and had a laugh the whole way!

the “ferry”

We also enjoyed a day in Knysna, checking out the local shops and quaint town famous for its oysters! The volunteers also visited the Knysna Elephant Park, where they learned a lot about elephant conservation and rehabilitation. Jolanda Vroling, Ruth Hamilton and Lindsay Smith gave them some exercise by riding on their backs! We had a great trip, can’t wait to come back!

-Alyssa Myers

James Fones of Grandall Legal Group based in Shanghai wrote to Projects Abroad recently to praise the work done by interns. He said, “Working with interns from Project Abroad has been educational for both of us. Each intern in his / her own capacity brought with them superb skills and resources. Even the high school interns were top notch and contributed to our firm. The university and post graduate level interns were qualified to work with any firm in the international community. Project Abroad should be proud of its selection criteria and the results.

Our firm focuses on M & As and IPO’s. In addition, as the Foreign Legal Consultant, I work on funding and start-up companies in need of financial support. The firm’s attorneys are the best China has to offer and are not shy in asking the interns to participate at all levels of business transactions. I have never been let down by an intern. On the contrary, my business client’s enjoy working with the teams and our reputation is enhanced by them. An effort is made to tailor projects for the interns in accordance with their personal education specialty and goals. This allows the interns to grow in the field of their choice. In addition, introduction to Chinese business and social customs is emphasized so the interns may return with knowledge that is immediately useful in their respective countries.”

Well done to all who have undertaken a law internship in China!

To find out more about Law placements in China please click here