Ecovolunteer is about linking opportunities. They give conservation projects a chance to get the manpower they need and the nature enthusiasts the possibility to become more active in their respective field.

Taking part in an Ecovolunteer project is very different from taking a vacation. For further details visit the website www.ecovolunteer.org.

In India there is a possibility to participate in the bat and bonnet macaque projects(http://www.ecovolunteer.nl/india_apen.html - in Dutch).

These projects are organised and supervised by the S.M. Govindasamy Nayakkar Memorial Foundation, an organisation dedicated to the conservation of wildlife in the State of Tamilnadu.

This project involves the study and protection of both fruit-eating and insect-eating bats in the Nagai District. Local species, such as the flying fox, the greater and lesser horseshoe bat and the false vampire bat get special attention. The research includes 25 different locations with bat-colonies. Every week a census is conducted and some bats are caught and marked to establish the age distribution within the colony.

Faeces and data on the number of prey or favourite fruit trees are collected. Future plans include telemetric research, but it will probably take some time for the project to attain the necessary funds.
This project has two main objectives:

• Conducting a census in several coastal districts to establish the current population status.
• Collecting data on population dynamics and social behaviour of selected groups in two different habitat types: dry evergreen forests and rural areas.

Some of the studied groups live in agricultural areas near villages. People occasionally feed these macaques and therefore one can get quite close to them. This provides an excellent opportunity to train volunteers in observation techniques. They will be taught how to approach the monkeys and how to behave when they are near the animals.

In the research area several animal species can be seen, such as mongoose, jungle cat, civet cat, wild boar, bats, turtles and salt-water crocodiles. Large numbers of migratory birds visit the coastal areas and can also be seen near the villages.

The Foundation has a field station in Thittai, about 3 kilometres of the nearest town Sirkali. The field-station is about 250 kilometres from Madras International Airport.

The Ecovolunteer travel programme is being looked after by:

c/o Reisburo Weemaes Vismarkt 7B 4561 AZ  Hulst
Tel	:	0114-371 400
Fax	:	0114-316 488
E-mail	:	info@tierra.be
Web	:	http://www.ecovolunteer.nl