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Kinabatangan Wetland Habitat Restoration Initiative by KOPEL-MESCOT Volunteer Work Conservation or Community Work |
KOPEL has a core team of about 130 local people who
work actively with the community ecotourism &
conservation program. Work is mostly part-time and is
shared on a rotational basis to spread the benefits to all
the interested people. At present KOPEL has only 11
personnel who work on a full-time basis. In the past
because of the low volume of visitors (very few) paid-work
with the ecotourism program was sporadic with a lot of lay
time between jobs. In the past, in the time between paid
work activities, many of the community members got
together to work on voluntary programs and supporting
community initiatives, continuing the ethos of the initial
MESCOT Initiative, which was started based on entirely
voluntary participation. Because of this the MESCOT
name was preserved and the core group that continues this
volunteerism goes by the name MESCOT. Locals that get
involved in this work call themselves MESCOT members,
and there are a number of rules and protocols in joining
this group.
work actively with the community ecotourism &
conservation program. Work is mostly part-time and is
shared on a rotational basis to spread the benefits to all
the interested people. At present KOPEL has only 11
personnel who work on a full-time basis. In the past
because of the low volume of visitors (very few) paid-work
with the ecotourism program was sporadic with a lot of lay
time between jobs. In the past, in the time between paid
work activities, many of the community members got
together to work on voluntary programs and supporting
community initiatives, continuing the ethos of the initial
MESCOT Initiative, which was started based on entirely
voluntary participation. Because of this the MESCOT
name was preserved and the core group that continues this
volunteerism goes by the name MESCOT. Locals that get
involved in this work call themselves MESCOT members,
and there are a number of rules and protocols in joining
this group.
The key work that the MESCOT members carry out is
work that supports the community ecotourism activities
or the conservation work. This work involves a lot of the
back-ground preparation required to run successful visitor
programs alongside conservation activities. This work
involves a lot of maintenance, cleaning, and keeping the
key facilities and machinery functioning to carry out the
visitor program and conservation work. Along side this an
important part of the MESCOT Initiative (from its
inception) involves developing local capacity to carry out
KOPEL-MESCOT activities. Work that is often voluntary in
nature includes, planning, administration, and training.
Many of the KOPEL personnel and the entire community
benefit from these capacity building activities.
In addition to these activities there are a number of direct
community focused objectives that the KOPEL-MESCOT
Initiatives try to support. This includes managing the local
aesthetic environment through village clean-ups, rubbish
collection & removal, building toilets & proper sanitation,
construction of proper drainage & reduction of potential
mosquito breeding grounds, helping on village
"working-bees" (locally termed "gotong-royong") and
supporting other general family welfare activities such as
at time of deaths or marriages. There have been in the
past some special programs targeting the local health
clinic, village school and village kindergarten, either
cleaning, painting, general maintenance or student
activities.
At present very little of KOPEL-MESCOT's conservation
work is mechanised. The conservation work is highly labour
intensive and very physical demanding. Because of this,
from time to time, there is a need for the overall
KOPEL-MESCOT team to get involved on a voluntary
basis, especially to support the staff and workers of the
forest restoration and lake restoration programs. This work is
usually heavy and physically demanding, such as moving
seedlings, manually cutting or clearing vines & grasses,
tree planting, weeding planted trees, bagging new
seedlings in the tree nursery, bagging and removal of
Salvinia sludge from the lake restoration project. There are
a number of lighter (physically less demanding) jobs such
as planting seedlings in the nursery or observing and
collating data for monitoring purposes.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There will always be a variety of work,
and work can or will involve some or all of the above
depending on KOPEL-MESCOT's needs at the time.
work that supports the community ecotourism activities
or the conservation work. This work involves a lot of the
back-ground preparation required to run successful visitor
programs alongside conservation activities. This work
involves a lot of maintenance, cleaning, and keeping the
key facilities and machinery functioning to carry out the
visitor program and conservation work. Along side this an
important part of the MESCOT Initiative (from its
inception) involves developing local capacity to carry out
KOPEL-MESCOT activities. Work that is often voluntary in
nature includes, planning, administration, and training.
Many of the KOPEL personnel and the entire community
benefit from these capacity building activities.
In addition to these activities there are a number of direct
community focused objectives that the KOPEL-MESCOT
Initiatives try to support. This includes managing the local
aesthetic environment through village clean-ups, rubbish
collection & removal, building toilets & proper sanitation,
construction of proper drainage & reduction of potential
mosquito breeding grounds, helping on village
"working-bees" (locally termed "gotong-royong") and
supporting other general family welfare activities such as
at time of deaths or marriages. There have been in the
past some special programs targeting the local health
clinic, village school and village kindergarten, either
cleaning, painting, general maintenance or student
activities.
At present very little of KOPEL-MESCOT's conservation
work is mechanised. The conservation work is highly labour
intensive and very physical demanding. Because of this,
from time to time, there is a need for the overall
KOPEL-MESCOT team to get involved on a voluntary
basis, especially to support the staff and workers of the
forest restoration and lake restoration programs. This work is
usually heavy and physically demanding, such as moving
seedlings, manually cutting or clearing vines & grasses,
tree planting, weeding planted trees, bagging new
seedlings in the tree nursery, bagging and removal of
Salvinia sludge from the lake restoration project. There are
a number of lighter (physically less demanding) jobs such
as planting seedlings in the nursery or observing and
collating data for monitoring purposes.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There will always be a variety of work,
and work can or will involve some or all of the above
depending on KOPEL-MESCOT's needs at the time.
Background to Volunteerism at MESCOT
What Volunteer Work Involves
KOPEL Welcomes Volunteer Support !
After this program had been established a few years, it
became obvious to the KOPEL-MESCOT Program would
benefit greatly from having external volunteer support.
This is mostly because:
MESCOT personnel can handle, it is seen as vital to
encourage external volunteer support for this program.
In addition to getting more helping hands to support the
KOPEL-MESCOT Community & Conservation Initiatives it
was further noticed that the volunteers also helped build
confidence, higher morale and community spirit, and
helped develop practical skills such as improve spoken
English Language. At times some of these more indirect
benefits have been essential to maintaining the high
level of motivation and commitment of all MESCOT
members. Volunteer involvement is seen in many ways as
highly beneficial to KOPEL's conservation initiatives.
became obvious to the KOPEL-MESCOT Program would
benefit greatly from having external volunteer support.
This is mostly because:
- Not all work in the village can be paid because
of the nature of the work, hence it is difficult to
attract people away from paid-work especially
when they are already struggling to survive. - The community has a limited number of people
who can get involved on a volunteer basis, most
people are busy trying to make a living and
simply trying to survive. - Some of the work is so very labour intensive it
requires a massive human effort to get the job
done - many more hands are necessary.
MESCOT personnel can handle, it is seen as vital to
encourage external volunteer support for this program.
In addition to getting more helping hands to support the
KOPEL-MESCOT Community & Conservation Initiatives it
was further noticed that the volunteers also helped build
confidence, higher morale and community spirit, and
helped develop practical skills such as improve spoken
English Language. At times some of these more indirect
benefits have been essential to maintaining the high
level of motivation and commitment of all MESCOT
members. Volunteer involvement is seen in many ways as
highly beneficial to KOPEL's conservation initiatives.
How to Get Involved
What KOPEL-MESCOT mostly requires of volunteers is to
HELP and SUPPORT what ever activities are most
needed at the time of visit. This can vary throughout the
year depending on the season and work taking place in
the program. Although we are happy to arrange a special
volunteer program that suits our needs and the special
skills of a volunteer, we mostly simply require additional
hands to help on day-to-day tasks as well as special tasks
which require lots of man-power. This could be either
community focuses or conservation focused or even
organisation focused such as in training & capacity
building.
There are two basic ways to get involved in KOPEL-
MESCOT's Volunteer Initiatives.
HELP and SUPPORT what ever activities are most
needed at the time of visit. This can vary throughout the
year depending on the season and work taking place in
the program. Although we are happy to arrange a special
volunteer program that suits our needs and the special
skills of a volunteer, we mostly simply require additional
hands to help on day-to-day tasks as well as special tasks
which require lots of man-power. This could be either
community focuses or conservation focused or even
organisation focused such as in training & capacity
building.
There are two basic ways to get involved in KOPEL-
MESCOT's Volunteer Initiatives.
- Contact one of our Volunteer Partner
Organisations such as Global Vision
International (GVI) or Raleigh International.
These organisations arrange volunteer groups to
support community and conservation work at
MESCOT. There are some key advantages of
working with these Partner Organisations. Firstly
they can help with many other practical
arrangements such as flights (to-from home
country), visas, medical and other practical
requirements. The programs of these partner
organisations usually involve some pre-arrival
briefings and training and can answer lots of
questions volunteers might have regarding the
project & practicalities of working with us. These
organisations make all the necessary logistical
and practical "how to get there" arrangements
for you! Because these partner organisations
arrange groups, it can be a lot less worrysome
and a lot more fun to travel and get involved
with a group of volunteers rather than
individually. - ALTERNATIVELY volunteers can contact us
directly, and arrange both the type of work and
logistical arrangements directly with us. This can
often be a little time consuming, but we are
open to direct contact with potential volunteers.
The practical "how to get there" and logistical
"costs involved" can be found by contacting
KOPEL Bhd. at kopel@tm.net.my
No Specific Skills are required for the general
conservation and community volunteer work. The ability to
work with other people in a team, learn a new way of life,
adapt to variety of work situations both in the rainforest or
in the village environments, keep going when the going
gets tough, and the ability to smile and inspire others will
be key to making this work a success.
Even so, KOPEL is most interested in any specific skills
that could benefit the program or our people. Specific
skills which are still lacking or at very basic level in our
program include accounting, computer IT, English
language, soil science, hydrology, and other biological
sciences. Any of these skills could be highly advantageous
if focused in the right way. Please contact us how these
might help.
conservation and community volunteer work. The ability to
work with other people in a team, learn a new way of life,
adapt to variety of work situations both in the rainforest or
in the village environments, keep going when the going
gets tough, and the ability to smile and inspire others will
be key to making this work a success.
Even so, KOPEL is most interested in any specific skills
that could benefit the program or our people. Specific
skills which are still lacking or at very basic level in our
program include accounting, computer IT, English
language, soil science, hydrology, and other biological
sciences. Any of these skills could be highly advantageous
if focused in the right way. Please contact us how these
might help.
Skills Required
We have no specific limits either minimum or maximum.
But for practical purposes, anything longer than 3-4 nights
would be most beneficial for both volunteers as well as our
program. It will take a few days to settle in, learn all that is
needed to learn, before undertaking volunteer work. If the
time is too short it would not be of great benefit both ways.
We have had volunteers stay up to 3 months, however 2
weeks to six weeks is probably an ideal time-frame to
maximise the learning experience for the volunteer and
support for the program. There will always be a variety of
work, so the longer the stay, the more all round involvement
and better experience will be attained.
But for practical purposes, anything longer than 3-4 nights
would be most beneficial for both volunteers as well as our
program. It will take a few days to settle in, learn all that is
needed to learn, before undertaking volunteer work. If the
time is too short it would not be of great benefit both ways.
We have had volunteers stay up to 3 months, however 2
weeks to six weeks is probably an ideal time-frame to
maximise the learning experience for the volunteer and
support for the program. There will always be a variety of
work, so the longer the stay, the more all round involvement
and better experience will be attained.
Duration & Length of Stay
Contact Us for more Information at: Email : kopel@tm.net.my Phone : + 61 89 551064 Mobile: + 61 12 8897845 Address : PPM 538 Elopura Sandakan, 90000, Sabah, Malaysia |
At present there is not much choice of accommodation at
the village of Batu Puteh Kinabatangan. The only thing we
can offer at present is staying with a local family in our
village homestay program (Miso Walai Homestay). Staying
with a local host family will help provide a broad and
varied experience with KOPEL-MESCOT. This program is
full board, so all meals and accommodation are covered.
There is potentially some forest based work that will involve
staying overnight in the rainforest in simple hammock
camps, this will be advised accordingly. All additional
camping equipment and training will be provided by
KOPEL-MESCOT.
the village of Batu Puteh Kinabatangan. The only thing we
can offer at present is staying with a local family in our
village homestay program (Miso Walai Homestay). Staying
with a local host family will help provide a broad and
varied experience with KOPEL-MESCOT. This program is
full board, so all meals and accommodation are covered.
There is potentially some forest based work that will involve
staying overnight in the rainforest in simple hammock
camps, this will be advised accordingly. All additional
camping equipment and training will be provided by
KOPEL-MESCOT.
Place of Stay
Daily work times varies depending on the activity. Could
involve very early (pre-dawn) starts. In general, however, the
work hours is typically 8:00am to 4:30pm day to day, unless
other wise advised in advance.
involve very early (pre-dawn) starts. In general, however, the
work hours is typically 8:00am to 4:30pm day to day, unless
other wise advised in advance.
Basic training for work and settling into village life will be
provided by KOPEL-MESCOT. Essential training specific to
work skills, health & safety, standard operating procedures,
and other essential KOPEL's rules & regulations will be
provided by KOPEL after arrival at our village program.
provided by KOPEL-MESCOT. Essential training specific to
work skills, health & safety, standard operating procedures,
and other essential KOPEL's rules & regulations will be
provided by KOPEL after arrival at our village program.
Daily Routine & Work Hours
Training Provided on Site
