The Global Projects & Volunteering database is designed to facilitate direct collaboration between you and the grassroots projects detailed. Where our Earth Ambassadors have visited the projects there will be a detailed report on the visit and the opportunity to communicate direct to the Earth Ambasssador as well as to the project team. You support the project direct, as your own project and/ or you work through us, it doesn't matter. All we ask is that you let us know what support you have given so we can post it on the website, to inspire others but also to ensure transparency.

There are many other ways in which we can collaborate and support others: through volunteering our help, and paying for the privilege of so doing; through eco-tourism, putting our holiday money into local pockets; through fair trade, buying products that give fair value to producers and / or where profits fund conservation or humanitarian projects; and through funding specific global programmes: Endangered Habitat Land Bank; Animal Defender Programme; Micro Financing Programme; Education Programme; Research Programmes.

Volunteering giving of out time and effort, contributing direct to conservation efforts is one of the most rewarding experiences possible. It is also often the sole source of funding for important conservation work around the world. It doesn’t have to be expensive as in many countries small amounts of money go a long way. These project pages are filled with many wonderful opportunities not least of which is with the AWF with whom not only do you get to volunteer on the whale watching boats, raising awareness of conservation issues with one million Europeans every year but also you get to spend time in the research room helping build the Global Volunteer and Projects, and Habitat Destruction databases, and helping develop funding strategies for projects around the world.
1. Volunteering AWF
2. Global Projects & Volunteering database
3. New projects list link to Sri Lanka projects list

Eco tourism cleaning elephant poo may not be everyone’s ideal way of spending holiday time but through eco tourism- relaxed, quality accommodation, good food- you are able to fund conservation work and see what’s going on and, maybe, help in other ways as inspiration takes you. A minimum 30% goes into conservation projects and you give over the monies, and the hope is you develop a life long relationship with the projects you visit:

  Tenerife
      WildWhaleArt Photography Workshops
      Education Workshops
      Educational Groups

  Sri Lanka
      Eco tour

Fair trade we are developing a range of educational merchandising the profits from which will go into the WhaleFund. You can also buy packs to on sell as an income generator for yourself (keep 30% and 30% into the WhaleFund.) We are also building an on line shop promoting products made by local people and we are interested in helping develop local businesses through micro financing and business introductions .



Global Programmes

These are general programmes where funds can be deposited for use at our discretion or directed by you. For further information, contact edb@whalenation.org.

Endangered Habitat Landbank helping to fund the purchase of endangered habitat through local organisations is a key way in which species can be preserved from extinction. Put ‘Habitat Destruction’ and the name of any species you can think of into a Google search and you will come up with thousands of entries of man destroying specific habitats causing extinction (LINK Habitat Destruction Database). There are many local grassroots organisations trying to protect habitats and dependent species and we can work with them to buy the land to keep it safe. (Or we can rely on politicians not to allow the sale of protected land when business offers them money………)

Animal Defender programme in many parts of the world local rangers go out protecting animals often on a one to one basis, individually attached to specific animals- invariably, they are poorly paid and under resourced- this fund aims to give their work value and support them with professional equipment- many of these people work for as little as one pound sterling per day and it would be very doable for us to fund more and more local people to look after nature for all of us- can you think of a more worthwhile job than to protect an endangered animal from poachers- can you help to give value to this work and create real jobs in societies where gainful employment is often not available (itself a pressure on natural resources)

Micro Financing
Often poor communities, marginalised by the developed world through the global economy are at the front end of the struggle to defend and protect nature. If we can help local peoples to create valuable sources of income then, in the process, we can take much pressure off the natural environment. Thus, in Sri Lanka, we are going to be supporting programmes that facilitate local village tea producers to sell their products direct, cutting out the exploitative buyers that reduce them to little more than servitude, equipping women with sewing machines and contracts to make merchandising for us to sell, financing the manufacture of local handy crafts again that we can help sell for them, funding nature rangers/ guides and local teachers. We can also help finance local animal rescue centres, particularly for dogs that will produce quality and worthwhile work. The list is endless- if you are sourcing promotional or gift items from say China why not give these villagers a chance- the costs will be low and the people are hardworking, intelligent and motivated.

Education Programme
There are two key elements to our education programmes. Our children, globally, who we need to educate as to the threats to the natural environment that they will inherit from us and to raising awareness within local communities on the value of their natural wildlife and habitats and ways in which they can conserve and protect but also live from them

Research programmes
Whenever and wherever a business or politician decides to make profit and personal gain from damaging our environment they will always answer protests by claiming that there is no evidence that habitat destruction will threaten the species in question always! Without scientific, quality base line data there is no way these arguments can be countered- these people win their cases time after time because of lack of base line data on habitats and species. These fund will back researchers globally in scientifically building base line datasets. This will be one of our fundamental goals!