Overview

As a Love The Oceans Conservation Adventure Program Participant you will form a valuable part of our team. During your 3 weeks on the program, you will collect and contribute valuable data to our data set. You will also be learning about and supporting the local community as you participate in the following set activities:

PADI dive training (get qualified!)
You do not have to be a diver before you come out to Mozambique, you can train with us here! Included in your program fee is scuba diving training. If you’re already qualified you can get a discount on the program or do the qualification above the one you’re currently on.

Ocean safaris and Megafauna training
You’ll have a theory session on how to photograph megafauna for a successful ID shot. You’ll be learning about humpback whales and whale sharks, with some manta ray IDs too.

Your skills will then be put to the test on ocean safaris where you can practise taking ID shots. You will also be taught why the conservation of these species is so important and learn about our work in this area.

Help improve the local school facilities
You’ll help paint community-approved educational murals at the schools we work at. You will not do any construction work – we believe it’s better to invest in the local community.

Participate in coral reef surveys
We believe we’re in a biodiversity hotspot and we need coral reef data to prove our area is worth protecting. LTO collects this data as we are building a develop a robust data set which will be used to lobby for a Marine Protected Area.

We also believe that securing an MPA will create opportunities for eco-tourism, bringing much needed income into the region and providing a viable alternative to unsustainable fishing.

Once qualified, you will be diving and snorkelling to complete LTO surveys. Your new fish ID skills will be put to good use as you start to record the fish and coral species you see on each survey.

Support swimming lessons for local kids
Surprisingly few local children are confident in the water. Part of our commitment to the local community is teaching local school children to swim on Saturday afternoons.

We do this to improve water safety skills in the community, and with the aim of igniting a passion for the marine environment in the younger generations. We hope for a future where the local community both want, and are able to, experience the underwater world for themselves.

Participate in fisheries research
As a Conservation Adventure Volunteer you will spend some time supporting fisheries research. During this time you will learn how to collect beach monitoring data, how to log it and why this is so important.

LTO supports fisheries data collection in order to assess how sustainable the fisheries are in their current form. Through building this data set for monitoring and analysis it is our aim to work with the local community to determine a minimum landing size for individual species and help re-build a sustainable artisanal industry. The creation of a robust data set will provide the evidence base required to effectively lobby for changes to certain fishing legislation.

Help with beach clean ups
Unfortunately plastic pollution is a human-induced problem the world over.  Mozambique is no different. We’re on the edge of the Indian Ocean Garbage Patch which spans approximately 5 million kilometres squared and is made up of a huge range of trash, from sludge, to plastics, to glass. One of the most efficient and easiest way to remove trash from the ocean is through beach cleans.

We’ve committed to doing at least 2 beach cleans a week and weighing and logging what we collect to work out if it is international or local trash and what we can do to reduce this pollution.

After we have collected the trash off the beaches, we process it – wash, cut & dry it – and then we pack it into what we call eco-bricks. Our eco-bricks are 2L drinks bottles thrown out by resorts here, which we pack tightly with beach clean trash. these eco-bricks are then used in construction at the local schools as part of our projects.

Learn to cook local food
Mozambique is a developing nation with limited food resources. In the region we operate is remote, and the coastal soil and climate conditions are not favorable to varied agriculture. You will witness a lot of household subsistence farming. The local food is very filling and consists of a few different vegetables cooked in various different ways.

You will join in one evening for some local cooking. You will have the opportunity to to see what a normal family lives off in rural Mozambique, and how they prepare meals.

Learn some basic Portuguese and Bitonga, an original African tribal language
The community speak Portuguese and the local dialect, Bitonga. Bitonga is an original Mozambique tribal language so is quite tricky! You will participate in language lessons while you’re with us. These have proven great fun in the past and allows you to learn a little of both Portuguese and Bitonga.

Optional extra:
Greater Kruger Ecosystem Safari

Program cost: £2290 (£3390 inc. safari)