Platform Update v2.2

Hello! We’re happy to announce some important new updates on Conservation Guide:

• 📝Apply for and book conservation experiences (beta)
• 💳Pay with any major credit card
• 💬Message organisations directly on Conservation Guide

Booking projects

This is a big new step for us and hopefully global conservation in general, as we roll out the ability for you to apply for and book experiences on the platform.

How it works

Once you've decided to book an experience on Conservation Guide you can start the application process.

This is split into five easy steps:

1. You send your application via Conservation Guide
2. Organisation reviews your application and documents
3. Organisation accepts your application
4. You pay your 10% deposit via Conservation Guide
5. You complete payment for the experience directly with the organisation

Read more about how it works on our booking FAQ page.

Why is it in beta?

Everything works, but we are new to this! So, booking is currently in beta while we listen to your feedback and make continuing improvements.

Beta testing and expansion

We are collaborating with a number of forward-thinking conservation organisations so that they can be the first to offer bookings for their experiences on the platform.

The first two experiences you can book are:

Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage

Hoedspruit, South Africa

DAKTARI offers a unique opportunity to inspire and teach children from rural communities about the importance of the natural world. 

Kanahau Utila Research and Conservation Facility

Utila, Honduras

Study critically endangered Utila spiny-tailed iguanas, invertebrates, bats, and other reptiles and amphibians on a beautiful Caribbean island.

We will add bookings to more experiences while we listen to your feedback and improve. Keep an eye out for announcements.

Have any feedback? We plant a tree in your name for each piece of substantial feedback you provide.

Payment and security

Once you're ready to pay for an experience, you can do so with any major credit or debit card.

We integrated Stripe to manage the payment process, and we hope to add more payment options in the future, including:

• Paypal
• iDEAL
• SOFORT
• Apple Pay
• Don't see your preferred payment method here? Let us know.

All payments are handled by Stripe and are fully secure.

View bookings

Once you've applied for an experience or made a purchase, you can view your booking in the Bookings section.

In this section, you can view the status of your application, as well as click through to view all your booking and billing details.

Account details

Want to check your billing details? You can view and update your them in the Account section.

Messaging

Another exciting feature is the ability to send a message directly to an organisation from their experience page.

Click the button in the right-hand sidebar to start chatting.

Notifications

It may be that the organisation you're trying to contact is on the other side of the world and may not be available to answer instantly.

In this case, there are a few options for keeping you updated:

• You'll get an email whenever anyone sends you a message via Conservation Guide
• You can see your unread messages in the Messages submenu
• Click on the Messages link in the submenu to access and reply to your messages

Download and delete conversations

If you need to download or delete a conversation, all you have to do is click the icon in the chat screen. You can also block users from contacting you should the need arise.

That's it - we hope to welcome you as a Conservation Guide customer very soon!

Will