Volunteer tourists as scientifically aware environmental citizens: citizen science within an Australian non-governmental organization

Abstract

It has been suggested that volunteer tourists (voluntourists) contribute to society in a variety of ways, although enthusiasm for such voluntourism is often tempered with an awareness of potentially less positive impacts. This article focuses on citizen-science conducted by voluntourists in an Australian conservation park, showing that such voluntourist-conducted conservation research is valued by participants, though challenges are identified, not least regarding the differing perceptions and expectations of the tours on offer. This is also potentially complicated by the often overlapping volunteer, tourist and researcher experiences, activities and identities. This study introduces a tentative typology of citizen-science activities that emerged during ethnographic fieldwork to help explore the voluntourists’ engagement with citizen-science projects and their implications for broader citizenship awareness and behaviour.