Where does your money go?

The Volunteer Research Assistant Programme is a vital part of ReefDoctor’s fundraising effort. Money received from research assistants goes directly into our operational costs, with the majority of money going into our core programmes in Madagascar (for instance paying staff and student wages and for diving, fuel, food, etc).

Expenditures include:
• Educational and research literature and materials such as ID books, papers, videos
• Food, fuel, water and transport for volunteers and staff
• Diving activities (tank filling, boat fuel, engine upkeep, equipment repair and servicing etc.)
• Emergency equipment - VHF radios, satellite phone, medical supplies and first aid kits etc.
• Expedition logistics and field expenses
• Materials for the construction and implementation of equipment used for our science survey and marine management work (building artificial reefs, FADs, creating survey sites etc.)
• Institutional development in the project country (we have recently helped created a cooperative group of research and conservation organisations based in southwest Madagascar called the Capricorn Coastal Alliance)
• Education ventures for Malagasy students, such as helping to finance PhD placements or travel to educational conferences
• ReefDoctor pays the wages for three extra teachers at the local school in Ifaty - when we arrived there were just three teachers for 320 pupils!
• Capacity building at the IH.SM (the marine institute in Toliara)
• Local staff living allowances
• Administration in Madagascar (please note that no UK staff members, including directors, are paid - all work voluntarily).

And finally we want to reassure you that having smaller teams means that your financial contributions go directly into project objectives rather than to administration costs.

Research Assistants’ monetary input is critical in keeping ReefDoctor’s day to day activities running to their full potential.

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