Update September 2020
Please be aware none of our practical conservation groups are currently able to accept new volunteers. We have been heart-warmed by the number of enquiries that we have received, but in order to make the best use of resources and ensure safe working practice during the pandemic, numbers are strictly limited and we do not have the capacity to train new recruits.
Find out more about our current opportunities here.
About our Practical Conservation Groups
The practical conservation work groups carry out essential habitat management tasks for the benefit of local wildlife. Tasks are dependent on the season, but include coppicing, fencing or walling, grassland management, managing invasive species and path maintenance.
You don’t need any experience to join in as training will be given, however you do need suitable clothing, to be reasonably physically fit and enjoy being outside in all weathers!
Groups operate all over Somerset on SWT reserves. There are also numerous community-lead groups which also support organisations such as the RSPB and Natural England. Please get in touch for more information about groups local to you, and to find out how to join.
Contact: volunteering@somersetwildlife.org
Sedgemoor Conservation Volunteers help with coppicing hazel in Great Breach Wood, Somerset - Paul Harris/2020VISION
You’re doing something for nature, something that serves a purpose: protecting the land and the animals and people. You can come back here and look at the wall and say "I took part in that - I helped build it"
Mark Green, South Somerset Reserves Manager and team on Green Down nature reserve.
East Polden Conservation Volunteers clear scrub as part of the grassland management. Rhiannon Route
Peat Moors Conservation Volunteers manage scrubby trees at Westhay. Rhiannon Route.
West Mendip Conservation Volunteers take a break from fencing in the sunshine. Rhiannon Route.