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Achievements

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GVI believes it is critical that our mission statement is embodied in everything we do. This section of the website has been created to show how we achieve this by reflecting on our progress and measuring our successes in the field, both scientifically and in terms of building local capacity.

GVI’s Mission Statement

To promote the advancement of sustainable development through the creation of partnerships, promotion of local and global education opportunities and via direct financial support.

We accomplish these three primary objectives through:

• Partnerships: both long-term and when there is a genuine local need. We do not rely or seek funding from external sources that would remove vital research from the host countries - the research rights and success belong with them.
• Education: with commitment to recruiting locally and training local people in the skills we are teaching our volunteers. GVI’s education programmes are developed alongside conservation efforts.
• Programme support: via direct financial contributions and scientific and community support with programme development.




Partnerships

In all the places in which GVI works, we work with local partner organisations. These are among the very best in the world and include: the South African, Costa Rican, Mexican and Argentinean National Parks; the Kenyan Wildlife Service; the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International; the Jane Goodall Trust; and awarding winning NGO’s such as Amigos de Sian Ka’an in Mexico and FUNEDESIN in Ecuador. Our expeditions have multiple local, national and international partners, who ensure that GVI’s resources are used to best effect on priority projects for the region. Through this process, you can be sure that your money and your efforts are of direct benefit to the local partner organisations and the local region.

Read more about our local partners on our partners page Find out about our corporate responsibility partnership initiatives

Education and Programme Support




GVI wants our work to increase:

• General scientific knowledge
• Scientific interest in the region
• Documented conservation value
• Community education and awareness
• Tourist education and awareness
• Sustainable revenues for the local community.

GVI programmes increase local capacity via:

• Funding and equipment (in 2006, 78% of volunteer contributions went directly into the field (over 4,000,000 USD))
• Charitable Trust funding for long term, locally led and sustainable initiatives- actively seeking grant funding, and a conduit for donations by ex-volunteers and friends of GVI
• Indirect funding - on average a GVI volunteer spends an additional 1,000 to 2,000 USD in the local region, prior to, during and post placement
• The promotion of partners and the region via the media and links with international organisations and funding bodies (to date GVI and our partners have been in The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, Geographical Magazine, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, Sunday Mail, Virgin and Blue Voyeur Magazine, and have featured on various international television programmes)
• Developing local science or teaching projects. The methodologies used are decided by the local partners to be relevant locally and of best use for each particular region and location
• The development of biological field stations - 11 in place in Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Patagonia, Seychelles, Kenya and South Africa
• The development of two TEFL centres to run free English lessons and environmental education and awareness programmes
• Local employment - staff on GVI’s bases and programmes currently consists of around 25% host nation personnel in all levels of management. Through the National Scholarship Programme, GVI aims to source, train and employ many more.
• The National Scholarship Programme, in which local people are trained for free (136 each year, worth over 400,000 USD)
• Providing teachers and schools. GVI-sponsored teaching programmes currently support and teach over 2,000 children in seven countries. GVI provides scholarships to over 400 children in Guatemala to attend national public school. We are building and funding a secondary school in Urcusiqui, Ecuador. Over 1,000 other children receive all the educational utensils they need to attend school, plus food to help them to concentrate
• Teacher/ranger training days - being further developed and published as part of a grant from the Project AWARE foundation
• Local community and partner organisation staff training and certification.

GVI programmes report against measurable set objectives. To peruse our expedition reports and to find out more about local capacity building initiatives, please click on the programme of interest to you below. For projects please view the ‘How Does this Project Make a Difference?’ section on each project’s home page.

01727 250250

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