The Faroe Islands to be "Closed for Maintenance, Open for Voluntourism"

The very stunning Faroe Islands have invited 100 volunteers on April 16 - 17, 2020, when it will be shut down for all other travellers. The campaign headlines reads, Closed for Maintenance, Open for Voluntourism. The call saw a massive 5886 volunteers signing up in just 24 hours from 95 countries; out of these, 100 volunteers would be chosen for the project. During the project, 14 popular sites would be shut to tourists.

The chosen volunteers are expected to work on the preservation and creation of needed infrastructure, including the construction of paths and installation of needed signs here. The second call for volunteers too has been lapped up and even led to the crashing of the webpage where volunteers needed to sign up. While the volunteers will have to pay for their travel to the islands, their accommodation, transport and food on the islands would be taken care of by the island authorities. 40 islanders would assist and guide the volunteers during the project.

In its first leg of voluntourism, the islands saw volunteers working on building paths to a famous bird-watching site, and repairing another path that was all worn owing to a stream of visitors thronging to it. A diverse group of people from all over the world, including Israel, China, Mexico, the USA and more countries joined in as volunteers in the first round.

While the over-tourism situation is under control now, the island authorities are keen to exercise caution before it turns into a graver problem like it has in Rome and Machu Pichhu. Thus, the authorities are training the spotlight on voluntourism.

The islands are a territory of Denmark, and have become quite a hit with travellers from across the world. Its rugged landscape, lush mountains, precarious yet inviting cliffs, and the stunningly blue ocean are just some of the lures for travellers. The islands are also home to the largest colony of storm petrels and more than two million pairs of seabirds. The ecology here needs to be preserved and the authorities are keen to do the same before things turn into another over-tourism disaster here.