To improve public knowledge on soil and water conservation, the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau established the first outdoor classroom as a site for the promotion of its ideals in 1989. Volunteers were recruited to assist the department in 1991. Training programs were then held to ensure the transformation of volunteers under the
Volunteer Service Act promulgated in 2001. The objective of this study was to identify the difficulties faced by and
the requirements of soil and water conservation volunteers. Participation motivation, organizational commitment, and
job satisfaction were investigated through a questionnaire. The data were analyzed through SPSS version 21. The results
indicated that the backgrounds of soil and water conservation volunteers were highly homogenous and they encountered few difficulties during their service. However, demands for professional training programs were high. The main participation motivations were serving others and self-achievement. The volunteers demonstrated strong organizational commitment and job satisfaction. However, the volunteers with a low monthly income and high seniority showed significant differences in participation motivation, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. The Pearson productmoment correlation was employed to estimate the correlation. The correlation coefficient between participation motivation and organizational commitment was 0.749, that between participation motivation and job satisfaction was 0.734,and that between organizational commitment and job satisfaction was 0.776. Thus, all three variables had strong positive correlations with each other. The results of this study can be incorporated into volunteer training and management.
Key Words: Soil and water conservation, volunteers, voluntary service, job satisfaction.