Facilities for University Groups

The Opwall projects tend to run from June until August. However the research facilities that Opwall has helped develop are also available for use outside of this main season. This allows researchers to gain access to field facilities in tropical rain forest, coral reef, or desert environments. If you or your university would like to use the Opwall research centres to run your own field course (at any time between September and late June), then please contact the Operation Wallacea Head Office. 

Tropical ecology classes can be run at the Honduras or Indonesia sites to include the following:

  • Transfers from the arrival airport (e.g. Kendari, San Pedro Sula etc) to the research sites

  • Food and accommodation

  • Use of vehicles, boats and scientific equipment at each of the centres

  • Dive Master support where necessary

  • Provision of medical staff

  • Free training to PADI Open Water level if required (PIC cards and dive manuals not included)

Please contact the UK, Canadian or US offices for a quotation for a training course. The costs of flights, insurance, airport taxes (if any), National Park entrance fees (if any), PIC cards, dive manuals, dive equipment rental or dive training beyond PADI Open Water level would be excluded from any quote.

At the marine sites a Reef Ecology Training course consisting of lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations, training notes for the students, as well as tests and model answers, has been developed and is available for delivery by the training course academics.

Training courses with accompanying academics can also be run at the South Africa/Mozambique, Peru, Egypt and Cuba sites.

 

What kind of facilities are available?

The main research facilities are in Indonesia and Honduras.  Indonesia can offer lowland monsoon forest research facilities with access to field camps, a fully equipped marine research centre on the most biologically diverse reefs in the World and a social science and anthropology centre in a Bajo village.  In Honduras there is access to a lowland rain forest site, a cloud forest research centre with access to field camps and a marine research centre. It is also be possible to use the facilities at our sites in Cuba, South Africa/Mozambique, Peru and Egypt.  Please contact us at info@opwall.com if you would like to investigate the possibilities using our facilities in these countries. 

Why use these facilities?

Part of the purpose of the Operation Wallacea programme is to build research facilities in the host countries for local universities and schools to utilise.  Whilst the Operation Wallacea programme is an excellent vehicle for building these facilities and providing sufficient funds for them to remain open for part of the season, additional funds are needed for them to remain open for longer periods of time.  This problem is being addressed partly by developing them as internationally recognised centres for research from where researchers can gain access to field facilities in tropical rain forests, coral reefs or desert areas. Therefore by using these centres to conduct training courses you will be supporting the maintenance of educational facilities in developing regions of the world.