A project to map Africa’s conservation areas is looking for volunteers to help map a section of West Africa.

The Mapping Africa’s Protected Areas (MAPA) project aims to create and publicise high accuracy maps of major parks and reserves in Africa in order to help preserve the continent’s conservation areas.

As part of the second phase of the project, MAPA is looking for mapping volunteers to cover parts of West Africa from October 2010 to July 2011.

Most volunteers will become part of a mapping expedition team, which generally involve four to six weeks of mapping by vehicle. The positions are unpaid but include accommodation and travel expenses.

The project also includes developing an online map using Google Earth. MAPA welcomes input about the map and is especially interested in hearing from people who have recently travelled in Africa and can provide relevant GPS data.