Creating Meaningful Experiences by WOX

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WOX (Way Out Experiences Ltd) is an international social enterprise developing and managing holistic and sustainable conservation programmes, using an economic model that addresses environmental, economical and societal issues. WOX is a for-benefit company, brain child of sustainopreneurs Afzaal Mauthoor and Guillaume Feldman. WOX was incorporated in the UK in October 2003 and in Malaysia in 2005 (Way Out Experiences (M) Sdn Bhd).  WOX stakes a claim as the world's leading organization in sending volunteers abroad to carry out orangutan conservation.


With over 75 years combined experience in environmental and conservation work, we provide sustainable solutions to diminishing populations of endangered animals, such as the orangutans of Borneo. Flagship endangered species such as orangutans are used to explain the complex interrelationship between humans and the environment, allowing our clients to relate to problems and engage in solutions. In working to connect everyday people with endangered animals, WOX has made the global tragedy the orangutans face, become a personal life mission for hundreds of people from Europe, US and Australia

A successfully run solution is the volunteer programmes under the Great Orangutan Project. We have 250 orangutans in our care among our 7 wildlife projects. The projects benefit from volunteer help and contribution undertaken in a highly structured short-term volunteer programme. WOX is in the business of providing everyday people with a meaningful conservation experience and a high quality volunteer hospitality service. WOX dedicates 25% to 40% (subject to program) of its revenue from the sale of volunteer programs directly to animal conservation and indigenous community development, based at our project sites in Peninsular Malaysia, Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo. This equates to over GBP300,000 directly to orangutan welfare since 2005 to summer 2009.

Travelers' who seek meaningful experiences are provided with rare opportunities to join one of our flagship conservation programmes such as the Great Orangutan Project, the Great Marine Project (www.greatmarineproject.com) and Responsible Tourism in East India (www.responsibleindia.com) and coming soon the Great Rainforest Project (watch this space). For all you gap year or students we also present Responsible Gap (www.responsiblegap.com) which offers similar amazing conservation opportunities. Our commitment to service and experience management is motivated by a social agenda. Providing personal and career development for university students and professional people looking to change career, we aid their own self-improvement and increase employability during economic hard times. WOX signature volunteer programs appeal to people taking a gap year or a career break or those in search of a experience in cutting edge conservation and who would like a career in working with endangered animals.

Guillaume Feldman from our partner charity REACT:

“We do not want to stay forever. We would like to provide local government, host communities and local partners with the knowledge, support and training necessary to run conservation projects themselves. Once we have everything we can to create a sustainable future for both the wildlife and local communities, the end result would be our ultimate removal (as facilitators)” – Guillaume Feldman, Director of Conservation.

The Great Orangutan Project (GOP)   Conservation of wildlife is not an incidental by-product of The Great Orangutan Project's efforts at responsible tourism. Rather, it is the pivot about which the whole company turns our long term over- arching goal. The volunteer projects have not been initiated solely for the benefit of travelers wishing to be close to wildlife; they are run as a means of generating both interest and vital funds for all the project sites in which we work. The programs developed by WOX are supported by volunteers or participants who pay money to fund ongoing conservation projects. They also get an opportunity to personally contribute to project implementation through activities such as husbandry, enrichment, infrastructure building, rehabilitation and release of animals, habitat restoration as well as community involvement and education. You can appreciate the conservation and the volunteer response to our work through a video link aired recently on Australian TV.

The Great Orangutan Project (GOP) is an exemplar of our holistic approach to dealing with endangered species. We work with them in 3 settings: captive, in rehabilitation centres and in the wild. In each of these settings we engage volunteers with different aspects, different stakeholders involved in the care of the animals - primarily includes human players in each site, the health of the habitat and issues pertaining to the animal itself.  This three- pronged engagement is critical to their holistic understanding of the challenges the species faces in the wild. To find out how you can become a volunteer click here.


To find out more about WOX, read on...

Responsible Tourism: Our philosophy on responsible travel is based on creating sustainable working relationships. The result of this harmony enables us to stimulate an eco-economy at a local level and spearhead new found interests and a commitment to the natural environment. It also inspires custodianship over the natural environment. Our role as a responsible company is to be creative in our conservation efforts, improve education, raise awareness and improve standards of living for local communities in Borneo. Examples of our initiatives include:

• Wildlife centre and animal sanctuary management


• Exotic animal husbandry and enrichment, veterinary nursing, and conservation;


• Rehabilitation of captive animals towards release in the wild;


• Environmental education activities in local schools to create future knowledge banks and knowledge workers in ecotourism;


• Facilitating and co-operating for scientific research on flora, fauna and ecosystem;


• Education and interpretation activities;


• Cultural interpretation programmes with direct involvement of local communities sharing their lifestyles;


• Construction of environmentally-friendly infrastructure using local materials, traditional architecture and design; and


• Knowledge exchange and transfer

Responsible Volunteering: over the last 3 years, WOX has developed a new, ethical, innovative and integrated approach to volunteerism. It has successfully run several volunteer programmes in Malaysia and Borneo, its flagship programme being at Matang Wildlife Centre in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The Great Projects generate funds for conservation and facilitates the exchange of knowledge and skills in aid of wild species classified as endangered under the Red Data Book.

As a responsible company, WOX embraces the principles of  Responsible Volunteering and believes it is key to creating sustainable, meaningful and successful volunteer projects that benefit local communities and their surrounding environment.

 Local tribespeople who have benefitted from the Great Orangutan Project, giving them economic independence and reviving traditional crafts.