conservation volunteering Archives - Biosphere Expeditions: blogs from the frontline of wildlife conservation & the fight for a more sustainable planet

28/04/202624/04/2026

Conservation Travel: Ethical Volunteering’s New Frontier

Media release – 28 April 2026

Four people bent over a headlamp light at night, one of them has a small bat in his hands — Citizen scientists doing bat work at night in Malawi

As the 2026 travel season is in full swing, a fundamental shift is redefining the “adventure” in adventure travel. Moving beyond the passive observation of traditional safaris, a new generation of travellers is choosing conservation travel: a model where travellers swap binoculars for data sheets and camera traps.

In an era where biodiversity loss is increasingly linked to multi-faceted global threats, ethical wildlife volunteering has emerged as the most meaningful way to explore the planet. Leading this evolution since 1999 is Biosphere Expeditions, a non-profit organisation whose “citizen science” model has become the industry gold standard for transparency, scientific rigour, and ethical integrity.

13/04/202601/04/2026

In an AI world, more people are turning to wildlife conservation

4 people looking at a herd of elephants at sunset — Elephants outside the Malawi expedition base

The latest Biosphere Expeditions Annual Magazine reveals how hands-on conservation is changing lives and delivering real results for nature.

Real experience in nature vs. the digital AI world

As digital technology reshapes how we live and work, a growing number of people are seeking something radically different: real-world experiences that reconnect them with nature, purpose, and each other.

The new 2025 Annual Magazine from Biosphere Expeditions captures this shift, telling the stories of everyday people who have stepped away from screens and routines to take part in hands-on wildlife conservation. From tracking wolves in Germany, to protecting coral reefs in the Maldives and surveying snow leopards in remote mountain ranges.

A large group of people waving into the camera, holding up a Biosphere Expeditions flag — Cover of the 2025 Annual Magazine

10/04/202610/04/2026

How going on wildlife expeditions as a child shaped me as an adult

Child standing in the savannah, smiling — In Namibia 2005

I grew up surrounded by nature, conservation and expeditions. My father founded Biosphere Expeditions three years before I was born, so from a very young age, I travelled to places that most people only ever see in documentaries. Those experiences shaped how I see the world, how I travel and how I think about conservation.

My first expedition was in 2002, when I was just six months old, to Ukraine – which of course I don’t remember. But the expeditions I do remember had a huge impact on me.

In 2008 and 2010, when I was six and eight years old, I spent my summers in Namibia. I remember the vast landscapes, the people and, of course, the animals.

02/04/202601/04/2026

The moment conservation becomes personal: Stories highlighting the human heart of wildlife protection

Media release – 2 April 2026

Two people measuring and calming a sea turtle on a beach at sunrise — Two citizen scientists measuring and calming a sea turtle on a beach at sunrise

Around the world, ordinary people are stepping onto the frontlines of wildlife conservation. Not as tourists, but as citizen scientists, they help track species, collect critical data and support conservation of wild animals and places that would otherwise not be possible.

The new 2025 Annual Magazine from award-winning NGO Biosphere Expeditions brings these stories together, revealing the people behind global wildlife research and the real impact they are having in the field.

The Magazine celebrates the ‘Human Factor’. The volunteers, local communities and scientists whose lives have been touched by working on the frontlines of wildlife conservation.

17/03/202630/03/2026

‘Seeing the environmental and human impacts on coral reefs made me want to work to ensure the longevity of their biodiversity’

At just 27 years old, Tess Kneebone has already travelled extensively – from Costa Rica and Mexico to France, Morocco and across the United States. So, when a competition to join a marine conservation expedition in the Maldives with Biosphere Expeditions appeared on her Instagram feed, it was no surprise that she jumped at the opportunity.

What Tess could not have anticipated was just how deeply the experience would affect her: it reshaped her ambitions, strengthened her sense of purpose and introduced her to conservation in its most tangible form.

‘I’ve never felt more like myself than working on coral reef surveys with other ocean lovers,’ she reflects, her enthusiasm tangible.

Tess Kneebone standing on the deck of a boat, smiling into the camera — Tess Kneebone

17/02/202630/03/2026

From Citizen to Top-Notch Science: Biosphere Expeditions Celebrates Recognition in ‘Nature Communications’, in Paper About the Status of Coral Reefs Worldwide

Media release – 17 February 2026

Biosphere Expeditions volunteers recording coral reef data in Musandam, Oman (c) Kelvin Aitken

17 February 2026 – Biosphere Expeditions, the award-winning wildlife conservation NGO, is proud to announce that citizen science data from its Maldives and Oman coral reef projects have been used and acknowledged in a recent peer-reviewed paper published in Nature Communications, one of the world’s leading scientific journals.

The paper warns that ‘the impacts of ocean warming on coral reefs are accelerating, with the near certainty that ongoing warming will cause large-scale, possibly irreversible, degradation of these essential ecosystems’.

10/02/202603/03/2026

‘Diving while writing on a slate makes you feel like an avid researcher – like you are contributing to something beyond yourself’

For Loulou Ojjeh, Biosphere Expeditions played a pivotal role in her journey towards becoming an ecologist when she joined its Maldives expedition in 2025.

Despite having completed only 20 dives and questioning whether she was truly ready, Loulou quickly realised that she was far from being an anomaly. ‘Many participants shared similar doubts’, Loulou recalls finding out.

Portrait picture of Loulou Ojjeh — Loulou Ojjeh

03/02/202602/03/2026

Citizen science helps protect Sweden’s brown bears through critical denning period

Media release – 3 February 2026

A brown bear in a forest — Bear (c) Andrea Friebe

Sweden’s brown bears are a conservation success story, but their recovery brings new challenges. A ground-breaking citizen science project that has been running in Dalarna county since 2019 shows how volunteers from around the world can help local scientists in bear conservation.

24/01/202603/03/2026

Bürgerwissenschaftler leisten wichtigen Beitrag zum Wolfsmonitoring in Niedersachsen während sich die Jagddebatte verschärft

Medienmitteilung – 27. January 2026
(Version auf Englisch)

Die von Biosphere Expeditions durchgeführte Wolfsschutz-Expedition 2025 hat erneut einen wichtigen Beitrag zum offiziellen Wolf-Monitoring-Programm in Niedersachsen geleistet. Die seit 2017 jährlich stattfindenden Bürgerwissenschafts-Expeditionen sammeln weiterhin Daten, die in manchen Jahren die jährliche Datenmenge im Bundesland Niedersachsen verdoppelt haben.

Vom 5. bis 18. Juli 2025 untersuchten 19 Bürgerwissenschaftler mehrere Wolfsgebiete und legten dabei in zehn Erhebungstagen mehr als 650 Kilometer zurück.

24/01/202603/03/2026

Citizen scientists make significant contribution to wolf monitoring in Lower Saxony (Germany) as hunting debate intensifies

Media release – 27 January 2026
(Version in German)

The 2025 wolf conservation expedition run by Biosphere Expeditions has again made a major contribution to Germany’s official wolf monitoring programme. The annual citizen expeditions, which have been running since 2017, continue to collect data that in some years accounted for up to half of all annual wolf scat samples in the state of Lower Saxony.

From 5–18 July 2025, nineteen citizen scientists surveyed multiple wolf territories, covering more than 650 kilometres in ten survey days.

Tag: conservation volunteering

Conservation Travel: Ethical Volunteering’s New Frontier

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In an AI world, more people are turning to wildlife conservation

Real experience in nature vs. the digital AI world

Like this:

How going on wildlife expeditions as a child shaped me as an adult

Like this:

The moment conservation becomes personal: Stories highlighting the human heart of wildlife protection

Like this:

‘Seeing the environmental and human impacts on coral reefs made me want to work to ensure the longevity of their biodiversity’

Like this:

From Citizen to Top-Notch Science: Biosphere Expeditions Celebrates Recognition in ‘Nature Communications’, in Paper About the Status of Coral Reefs Worldwide

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‘Diving while writing on a slate makes you feel like an avid researcher – like you are contributing to something beyond yourself’

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Citizen science helps protect Sweden’s brown bears through critical denning period

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Bürgerwissenschaftler leisten wichtigen Beitrag zum Wolfsmonitoring in Niedersachsen während sich die Jagddebatte verschärft

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Citizen scientists make significant contribution to wolf monitoring in Lower Saxony (Germany) as hunting debate intensifies

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Real experience in nature vs. the digital AI world

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