Indonesia

Training courses
 

Forest training courses

IL001 Jungle Training and Wallacea Forest Ecology (Weeks 1 - 5)
This training course is designed to allow you to acclimatise to the forest environment and give you the field skills to work competently alongside field scientists in the forest.  You will be taught practical survival skills, how to live, walk and work safely in the forest including how to establish a field camp and what potentially dangerous organisms to look out for.  The course also contains a series of lectures with practicals to train you in the field survey techniques being used for different taxa and identification of the more common species. You will also learn about the ecology of tropical forests and what is so special about the Wallacea forests. You will be spending 3 nights in forest camps with the remaining time based at Labundo.  This prerequisite course is a highlight of the expedition for many volunteers and where lasting friendships between volunteers, course leaders and local people are built. 

IL002 Indonesian Cultural Experience (Weeks 2 - 6)
This course gives a unique insight into rural Indonesian life and the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in a southeast Asian farm, how to fish in a dugout canoe, learn about medicinal plants, how to plant or harvest rice up to your knees in water in a padi field, and how to prepare Indonesian food.  Along with these activities there will be lectures covering topics that range from Indonesian language (you should be able to speak some Indonesian by the end of the course), Indonesian history and administrative structure. 

Canopy Access Experience (Weeks 1 – 8; half-day additional course within your normal schedule)
There is the option to do a half-day course that gives students the opportunity to learn how to safely ascend into the canopy. The ascent is done using ascenders (pulley system) with safety ropes and is a unique opportunity to experience wildlife in the canopy.  This experience costs £80 (approx. $130).  You do not need to choose the Canopy Access Experience as one of your options when booking with Opwall – you can do this as an optional extra as part of time on site.  However, you do need to pre-book with Canopy Access Limited by emailing alisonaldred@yahoo.co.uk.  

Marine training courses

IH005 PADI Open Water Dive Training (weeks 1 - 9)

This one-week course is a prerequisite to any diving project.  Open Water dive training is free to Operation Wallacea volunteers except for the costs of the PADI registration card and the Open Water Crew Pack, which you need to buy and bring with you. Completion of this course will give you an internationally-recognised diving qualification and enable you to join general diving projects accompanied by a Divemaster.  

Additional Dive Training (weeks 1 - 10)

Additional dive training beyond Open Water level is available and can be fitted around your work on other projects; so you do not need to specify the additional courses on your options list.  Courses include Advanced Open Water Diver ($220), Emergency First Response ($150) or Rescue Diver ($400 - includes Emergency First Response).  Note that these extra courses may not be available at all times and enrollment may depend on the number of people wanting the training.

IH006 Divemaster Training (Weeks 1 - 10)

Divemaster training is available free to Operation Wallacea volunteers, with only PADI membership fees and liability insurance costs to pay. Participants will have to set aside four weeks for this course. Before booking this course you need to be a qualified rescue diver with up to date Emergency First Responder (EFR) training, have a minimum of 60 logged dives, and should contact Operation Wallacea for a detailed list of kit you will need to bring on expedition. Note Divemasters trained with Opwall are offered the opportunity to be employed as a member of the dive staff team in future years. Unfortunately, it is not possible to offer work placements in the same year you qualify because of the time required to pass the course and obtain your full PADI Divemaster registration and insurance needed.

IH007 Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Ecology (Weeks 1 - 10)

The Hoga Marine Research Station is ideally situated in the centre of the coral triangle, the area with the most biologically diverse coral reefs on the planet. This intensive course involves a series of lectures and in-water practical sessions suited to both divers and snorkellers. The course aims to introduce the key topics of coral reef biology and ecology, and includes a large component that will introduce key species and taxonomic groups. The importance of coral reef ecosystems will also be discussed, along with threats to their continuing survival and management strategies as tools for conservation. Coral reefs cannot be considered in isolation and a healthy reef system is largely dependent on other connected systems. The course will therefore also introduce you to seagrass and mangrove systems. The Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Ecology course will provide you with the knowledge you will need to participate in further Operation Wallacea research activities whilst on Hoga, as well as being a fascinating insight into the functional ecology of coral reefs. Apart from the formal training component, a series of research seminars, lectures of general interest and classes and workshops on other ecological tools will be delivered to you throughout your stay to increase and widen your knowledge base.

IH008 Wakatobi Culture, Community and Environment (Weeks 1 - 4)

This course gives a unique insight into rural Indonesian life on remote islands and the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in a local farm, how to fish in a dugout canoe, and how to prepare Indonesian food.  Along with these activities, there will be lectures covering topics that range from Indonesian language (you should be able to speak some Indonesian by the end of the course), Indonesian culture and history of the area, as well as introducing you to the marine conservation, development, resource management and eco-tourism issues that are considered significant to the Wakatobi. The course comprises lectures at the Hoga research base and day trips around the island of Kaledupa.

Research Options

Forest options

IN101 Node Camp Biodiversity Monitoring Team (Weeks 2 - 8; need to have completed IN001)
Volunteers registered for this option will be based in one of the forest node camps working with a range of scientists.  One team is gathering annual monitoring data on the population levels and distribution of two key endemic mammals, the Buton Macaque and anoa (an endemic dwarf buffalo species on the edge of extinction), and the wild pigs.  This team will be completing very long treks into the heart of the Park, staying overnight in fly camps and may be away from the main camp for 2-3 days at a time.  Volunteers on this aspect of the study need to be prepared for this extreme trekking that may include numerous river crossings and even abseiling.  The remaining teams are based out of the main node camp. One team is monitoring bird communities from point counts and butterfly communities from transect surveys. Another team is assessing human levels of extraction in different parts of the forest including rattan, timber and distribution of bees nests exploited for the honey. There is also a team working on the rivers on amphibian demography and a team working on population counts of tarsiers.  Most volunteers on this option will spend part of their time on the extreme trek surveys and part of their time on the remaining survey projects based out of the node camp.  At the end of each week the node teams will return to Labundo.

IL102 Biodiversity Research Pool (Weeks 2 - 8 - need to have completed IN001)
Volunteers registered for this option will be based either in the village of Labundo or the field camp at Lapago.  There are a number of scientists at these camps who are completing annual monitoring of a range of taxa including the same groups being studied at the node camps. In addition, there are groups working on population densities of Malay Civets, community structure of herpetofauna and small mammals and on Buton Macaque behaviour with particular emphasis on the impacts of crop raiding by this species. The bat survey team will also be running standard sampling effort for bats using harp traps. These surveys have already produced several species new to science, as well as established unique data sets on the dynamics of tropical forest vertebrates.  Volunteers joining this option will be helping with a range of activities that include surveys for target groups of invertebrates such as butterflies, setting and emptying pitlines for snakes, lizards and small mammals, spotlighting for amphibians, harp trapping bats, completing point counts and mist netting for birds, live trapping civets, helping with macaque behaviour studies and completing dusk surveys for emerging tarsiers.

Marine options

IH110 Habitat assessment using GIS and biotope mapping on Hoga Island (Weeks 2 - 10; need to have completed IH007; surveys can be done by snorkelling but if you wish to participate in the dive elements, you will also need to be dive trained or have completed IH005)
In 2010, Operation Wallacea started a biotope mapping project that estimated the habitat quality and abundance of key fish and invertebrate taxa on reefs around Kaledupa many of which are not included in the annual change surveys (see IH111). In addition, the project incorporated data collection on the distribution and quality of seagrass, mangrove and terrestrial habitats. Using ARC mapping software and GIS (Geographic Information Systems), an accurate map of the habitats and descriptive data for each area of Hoga Island is being created to enable new arrivals at the Marine Research Centre to quickly identify suitable locations for various studies. The objective of the 2012 surveys is to complete the biotope map for the remaining reefs and associated habitats. Research assistants on this project will be completing restricted effort manta tow, snorkelling and diving surveys to estimate approximate coral cover on each stretch of reef and the abundance and size of key fish groups and invertebrate taxa (e.g. Crown of Thorns Starfish).  Seagrass surveys will be completed using snorkel transects, mangroves and terrestrial surveys through trekking transects and human usage of the island will be assessed through social surveys.  

IH111 Coral Reef Fish and Benthic Monitoring (Weeks 2 - 10; need to have completed IH007 and be dive trained or have completed IH005)

The Operation Wallacea Coral Reef Monitoring Programme underpins many of the specific research projects and the results of the repeated annual surveys of 108 transects are fed back to the Government of the Wakatobi to assess annual changes in the reefs. The monitoring programme, will continue during 2012 to complete the 11^th annual survey of these reefs. The surveys are completed along 50m transects with fish community structure assessed from visual surveys using experienced fish biologists. The benthic surveys are completed by underwater video surveys which are then analysed back in the laboratory.  In 2012, the stereo video survey approach (that was developed by the University of Western Australia and is being used at the other Opwall marine research sites in Cuba, Honduras and Mozambique), will also be used in Indonesia to compare with the results from the surveys completed by the skilled surveyors.  Note these data sets from reefs in the Indo-Pacific, Indian Ocean and Caribbean will provide valuable comparative data sets.  Research assistants joining this project will be involved in filming of the transects, and will then be expected to work long hours back in the lab completing analysis of the footage.

IH112 Density, population structure and activity of the coralivore starfish Acanthaster planci (Weeks 2 - 10; need to have completed IH007 and be dive trained or have completed IH005)

The crown of thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci, is a highly specialized coralivore. When in high abundance, this multi-armed starfish can devastate coral reef systems. In areas of the Great Barrier Reef, outbreaks of A planci have decimated huge areas of reefs leading to numerous methods of control and collection. In recent years, the abundance of A planci have seemingly increased and, in some areas, clear damage has been noted. It is therefore extremely important that a comprehensive study of A planci is undertaken in the Wakatobi to determine its abundance, population structure (using size and number of arms as a proxy) and the extent of coral damage across numerous reef habitats and reef sites. This research will include both diving and snorkelling based activities and examine populations of A planci within large belt transects. A high level of effort is required to gain a true estimate of population size and structure due to the patchy and aggregated distribution patterns of the starfish. This important research is therefore ideal for Research Assistants who want to help with the assessment and management of reefs of the Wakatobi.

IH113 Research Assistant Pool (Weeks 2 - 10; need to have completed IH007; surveys can be done by snorkelling but, if you wish to participate in the dive elements, you will need to be dive trained or have completed IH005)

There are many different marine research and conservation projects running at the Hoga Island Research Centre including dive-based projects, snorkelling projects, shallow sub-tidal projects, inter-tidal projects, and research projects focused within the mangrove forests. Research assistants are always needed to help various scientists collect essential data both in the field and at the field centre following field excursions. Research assistants have the opportunity to gain experience in several different research areas. On arrival at the field base, you will be introduced to the range of research projects that are underway and allocated to a scientist whose specific responsibility is to line you up with scientists who need assistance and whose projects match your specific or general interest. Joining the Research Assistant pool maximises your opportunities to widen your knowledge of marine biology whilst also allowing you to increase your specialist knowledge in specific areas of research. 

IB114 Reef Check and Marine Mammal Surveys for the Wakatobi National Park (Weeks 2 - 10; need to be dive trained or have completed IH005 as well as IH007)

Volunteers joining this project will be based on the live-aboard research vessel, the Bintang Sedang, which will travel around the Wakatobi Marine National Park over the course of the season in order to complete Reef Check and Marine Mammal surveys. Reef Check is a global project that monitors coral reef health across more than 40 countries, and data collected from the Wakatobi will input directly into their global database. In addition, Research Assistants on the Bintang Sedang will conduct a marine mammal census around the Wakatobi. Previous surveys carried out by Operation Wallacea have found that at least nine different species of dolphin and whale frequent the Park and anecdotal evidence suggests that there could be many more. Many sites visited by the Bintang Sedang are extremely remote and are rarely dived, allowing Research Assistants to observe near pristine coral reef systems. Applicants considering this option should remember that considerable sea travel is involved and the live-aboard research vessel will spend up to a week away from the main base on Hoga as it travels around the Park.

IH115 Fisheries Monitoring within the Wakatobi Marine National Park (Weeks 2 - 10; need to have completed IH007)

The majority of the near 100,000 residents of the Wakatobi are dependent on marine fish as their major source of protein. Increasing population sizes, coupled with increased commercialisation of local fisheries and the recent increased availability of improved technologies, have resulted in the overexploitation of fish stocks. Previous research carried out by Operation Wallacea has provided clear evidence of the decline of fish stocks.  From 2007 to 2010, the Darwin Initiative funded a continuous weekly data set of fish catches from various fishing techniques used on the reefs around Kaledupa (fish fences, gill nets, bubu traps, line fishing) to determine monthly patterns of catches. From 2011, this continual data set has been replaced by an annual intensive survey of artisanal catches over the June to August period in the same villages surveyed as part of the Darwin Initiative research programme. The data on catch per unit of effort for the various techniques and the percentage of immature fish of each species being captured by the various techniques are being gathered to compare with previous years and determine whether the fishery is recovering or continuing to decline.  Information and data collected will be fed back to government and marine park authorities and will directly aid in the formation of appropriate management strategies and fisheries-based regulations. Research assistants joining the fisheries monitoring team will be directly involved with data collection and data entry and will experience traditional Indonesian fisheries techniques.  The project is based on Hoga with day trips out (may be very early mornings depending on tides) to help with monitoring fish catches in coastal Indonesian villages.