Island Conservation Volunteering Programme, Cabo Verde

If you are planning on going and you can allow yourself to go, then go. Both programs the island conservation and the turtle watch programme are worth trying and are amazing. You are supported and surrounded by and amazing friendly staff, who are more than willing to help you experience the best of Cape Verde, while also doing good work for their ecosystem. As someone who does island conservation you would get to experience: bird ringing, shark tagging, marine monitoring, turtle patrols, turtle hatching season, replanting of endemic plant species, and you also get to join in on creating a protected area, by making signs, making road blocks and educating tourists as well as the locals.
The turtle programme hugely depends on the months you are planning of going (nesting, hatching happen during different months), but no matter what you will have an amazing team of like minded, international and local people who will be joining you on patrols and keeping you company through out the day.
The accomodation is provided for both volunteering groups, with turtle volunteers also getting their food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) provided.
Besides all that people who work with Project Biodiversity get various discounts around the town of Santa Maria for example for diving and island tours.
And if you encounter any problems than the volunteer coordinator is literally god sent and will help you through them all (shoutout to Débora♡).
Definitely will consider coming back if time allows it. Love you guys, keep up the great work!

Got to learn a lot about the plants and animals on the island that the project was trying to protect such as sea birds, turtles, palm trees. Activities included a bird census checking nests in protected areas and putting rings on chicks and checking on turtle nests in the hatchery and releasing any babies that had been born in the night.
Provided with a modern apartment in the town centre for duration of stay and easy process for applying and making arrangments to come. Definitely made me consider doing something similar in the future!

This experience has been amazing. Choosing this program allows you to do a lot of different activities and so be able to learn a lot from a big variety of fields - from wildlife (tropical birds, endemic species, not dangerous but cute baby sharks and sea turtles of course!) to endemic plants. The support you get is from people very knowladgeable and competent people that will take time to explaing things and answer all your questions. They always ready to help you and go an extra mile to do so.
The town is full of super friendly people and you-ll also have time to spend out chilling or having a party and living the life of Sal from a local perspective!
Overall it-s a great experience that I would strongly reccomend.

By saying that the initially planned 8 weeks working for the Project turned into 10 weeks, it is already clear that I loved it :)

My aim was to be able to work hands-on in the field of nature and environment conservation and this is exactly what I had the opportunity to do by volunteering for Project Biodiversity. During my time there, we were working on monitoring different species of seabirds and the amazing field technicians taught me all the manipulations for the ringing and the sampling of the birds. We were also working on the conservation of endangered endemic palm trees and the realisation of new paths, which should avoid people from destroying the dunes by driving everywhere. These works took place in many different areas of the island. I therefore had the opportunity to see so much more of Sal than any touristic island tour is offering, from hidden beaches to the top of Serra Negra and Monte Leão.
The work could sometimes be hard and tiring, but the final aim is giving great motivation.

After these 10 weeks, I came back home happy, with a lot of new knowledge and experience and also way more muscles :)
I am really grateful for all the wonderful moments and new friends that this adventure gave me. Thanks to all of you for everything !!

I went to Cape Verde for the first time during 4 weeks and I loved it.
The project is very interesting. I met very nice and warm people from all over the world. I had the chance to discover the island and even if seems arid it is really beautiful. Between the birds, the tropical fish and the turtles coming to lay their eggs the island abounds in magnificent species.

I discovered volunteering there and I am not disappointed. I really enjoyed this experience and I recommend it. If you want to travel and discover a new experience go for it !

I volunteered with the Seabird program for 4 weeks. The thing that I liked the most, was that every week we did something different. I had the chance to explore the rest of the island with them because we had to vistit different bird colonies. But normally we would meet with the bicycle and drive during the sunrise hour to Kite beach, where I saw some of the most beautiful sunrises. From there we would walk up to Sierra Negra, which was though but the view up there is breathtaking. All in all thanks to the Seabird program I not only had the chance to work with amazing people and do intresting work, I also visited places that with no tour guid I would have ever seen.
So if you are an adventurous person I definitely recommend it to you!

Project Biodiversity was amazing!

I was able to visit Sal, Cape Verde for 1 month. It was my first time on the island, and it was quite a treat. The housing was amazing, and the the people even better! Everyone had such amazing backgrounds and so very skilled.

I was 18 and turned 19 on the trip. Everyone else was so much more qualified than me, but that did not stop people from interacting with me, and they allowed me to participate in as many tasks as I could/wanted to.

If you are considering doing some volunteering work, consider Project Biodiversity! If you are working with the birds, gets some boots because we are moving! Such a blast, highly recommend!