“Animal welfare trips that are grounded in consent based tourism and local community leadership help us become more educated in animal conservation because truly we learn by doing. Seeing conservation and animal welfare programs that are guided and supported by the local community helps us understand how diverse these programs are around the world and how they can succeed when local solutions tackle local problems. When we take part in these programs we understand better in part all the steps, all the people and all the work that goes into animal conservation. It’s not just veterinarians, nurses and educators who are important in the conservation of animals, it’s maintenance workers, cooks, fundraisers, administers, cleaners and more! When we volunteer we see this and we see how far and impactful our volunteering can be. When lead by the local community with evidence based practices we don’t just get our hands dirty and help, we learn by doing and these lessons can be translated into so many difference spaces in our lives. Not every program will work in every community but learning about compassion, empathy and service will always help non human and human animals alike.”