The Alldays Wildlife and Communities Research Centre (AWCRC) is a family-run business established in 2017 at Campfornis Game Farm
The project provides opportunities for students, interns, and volunteers to gain field experience and develop research skills. Our main objective is to maintain a sustainable and successful conservation research programme. Our research focuses on human-wildlife interactions and conflict. Our area is host to a variety of free-roaming wildlife species which means farmers can experience loss of livestock, game, or damage to crops, leading to human-wildlife conflict. Our project aims to find ways of improving this relationship and ensure the survival of wildlife species outside of protected areas. Furthermore, we aim to assess how living in a human-dominated landscape can affect biodiversity, species behaviour and diet.
-Ernest Hemingway
AWCRC is located in the small town of Alldays in the Limpopo province of South Africa. We are also the sister site for Durham University’s Primate and Predator Project (PPP). Therefore, the research centre is split into two areas of research: AWCRC focuses on education, community, and broader wildlife research; PPP focuses on primate and predator research. We offer the opportunity for students and volunteers to gain field experience as well as for independent researchers to build their own projects in any of the fields hosted by AWCRC.
The Alldays area forms part of the Savanna Biome or ‘Bushveld,’ and is famous for its remarkable diversity of plants and animals, rich cultures and agriculture. Vegetation consists of Limpopo Sweet Bushveld, Roodeberg Bushveld, Limpopo Ridge Bushveld and Musina Mopane Bushveld. The area contains a remarkable diversity of plants, including a large number of endemic, rare and endangered species. Campfornis itself covers an area of 16 km2. Within the confines of our farm, we have a number of mammalian species, including cape buffalo, blue wildebeest, Burchell’s zebra, rock hyrax, mongoose, greater kudu, chacma baboon, vervet monkey, lesser bushbaby, brown hyena, caracal, and leopard. There is also an abundance of bird, reptile and amphibian species.
Research can be extended to the town and the surrounding area, including other game farms. Alldays is often used as a base for social and community studies, such as teaching English and environmental education, litter picks and snare sweeps.
For more information on our research and the volunteering opportunities that are available, please visit our volunteer page!
The Alldays Wildlife and Communities Research Centre was established with one aim. To allow students and volunteers to gain in-depth knowledge of the people and natural splendour of the South African bushveld while being immersed in a community of like minded individuals from across the globe. Our mission is to significantly contribute to the development of young talent, nurturing future stewards of the natural world.
Our strategy focuses on identifying simple, scalable initiatives across diverse domains. By doing so, we aim to establish a blueprint for extended and cost-effective research throughout South Africa. In essence, we’re searching for the proverbial ‘Canary in the Coalmine.’ Each project feeds into a comprehensive monitoring system designed to generate continuous environmental health data.
Here at the AWCRC we have a core philosophy built around curiosity. All our values as an organisation serves this goal, the only thing we will ever judge you on is the content of your character. Every single person no matter who they are or what they look like have a place in contributing to the body of knowledge and we welcome all who share in this fundamental search for a better future.
Alldays Wildlife and Communities Research Centre (AWCRC) is the second base for the Primate and Predator Project (PPP). The project first began in 2011, set up by Professor Russell Hill through the University of Durham. PPP was initially limited to the Soutpansberg Mountains, but in 2017 the project was expanded by Dr Leah Findlay to include AWCRC as its second base.
Project Aims
The Primate and Predator Project’s three main aims are:
Here at AWCRC, Dr Leah Findlay focused primarily on PPP’s third aim: to help local people coexist with their local wildlife.
History of the Project at AWCRC
PPP research in Alldays began with Dr Leah Findlay’s PhD thesis. The aim of this project was to understand and address conflict between farmers and wildlife due to crop foraging. Primate crop foraging behaviour has a serious impact on the livelihoods of local farmers and therefore farmers often turn to lethal methods of retaliation. Leah used various techniques, including vegetation transects, interviews, camera trapping, and behavioural observation, to understand the severity of the issue and explore the effectiveness of different deterrents to reduce crop-foraging. The study found that chacma baboons are the dominant raiders and their raiding was most influenced by natural food availability, but many other wildlife species also raid (including vervet monkeys). The project now aims to build on the findings of Leah’s thesis to further understanding crop-foraging behaviours and test other deterrents with the ultimate aim of improving the relationship between farmers and primate species. To deter baboons, research has shown that motion-activated sounds are effective in the short-term but not in the long-term once baboons have habituated to the stimulus. The project has tested a variety of deterrents but a long-term solution has not yet been found and we continue to run different mitigation trials. Whilst electric fences were found to be effective at reducing crop-foraging, it was observed that electric fences were killing multiple species of wildlife and therefore the project is working to assess the severity of impact and potential solutions to this issue.
PPP at AWCRC has also conducted several camera trap surveys aiming to assess carnivore and primate densities. This survey formed part of Jamie McKaughan’s PhD study and the results where used to help evaluate the scale of potential conflict in the area, to better inform management and conservation management in the area.
For more information on our current and upcoming projects, please visit our volunteer page!
We are located just outside the small town of Alldays in northern South Africa.
You will fly into OR Tambo Airport in the morning on your specified arrival date. You will then take a pre-booked shuttle service (booked by you, but we will provide you with the information) directly from the airport to Polokwane. In Polokwane, you will be met by a member of staff at the shuttle drop-off and driven to the research centre in Alldays
You can find out how to apply here.
There are none that we aware of but if you find any please let us know so we can offer that information to other volunteers! British and European students may receive financial assistance from their universities (e.g. Turing Grant, Erasmus Scheme)
Food costs in South Africa are very similar to places like the UK, USA, western Europe etc. We therefore recommend budgeting what you would usually spend in your home country. South Africa is much cheaper than most of Europe and North America when it comes to bevarages, restaurants and luxury consumables though…
Yes and most of our volunteers will spend some time on other projects when they can. Information on projects can be found here.
We do accept short term volunteers (less than two months) but we prefer longer stays (three months +)! If you stay for shorter than 2 months there is a slightly increased daily rate.
Yes. This is not mandatory but greatly advised as our project laptops are old and slow! All volunteers must participate in data entry which requires a computer.
Each project has a supervisor who will support your project and answer any questions/concerns you might have throughout your fieldwork. A separate member of staff will be assigned as your mentor and will be available for talks about whether you are achieving your personal goals, project goals (students), and just for a general check in!
We recommend bringing as much medication as you can. However, if you need more medication or have an emergency, we do have a pharmacy and doctor in Alldays.
This is up to your judgement. Alldays is a low-risk area and other solutions are recommended (e.g. mosquito spray) over antimalarials during the summer months (September – May). However, areas such as Kruger National Park are higher risk zones. Please see the government health site for more information.
To our knowledge, there is no enforcement on vaccinations to volunteer/visit South Africa, though it’s advised to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Please consult a medical professional for advice on travel vaccinations.
This isa general contact form, if you want to apply to the AWCRC for any specific position please go to Apply and select the role that best describes what you would like to do. If you have any question about the AWCRC please see the FAQ’s at the bottom of the About Us page. For everything else this is the right place!
We appreciate your enquiry and will be in touch shortly! We hope you are having a lovely day! if not …here is a picture of the camp dogs…
