Natur am Byth needs you! – How volunteering can help Wales’ most endangered species
Conservation projects across Wales are accepting volunteers to help boost the populations of the country's most at risk species.
Natur am Byth (NaB) is Wales’ flagship species recovery partnership and aims to work alongside local communities to safeguard threatened species with targeted management of habitats, by boosting monitoring efforts and spreading awareness of the rare plants, animals and fungi found on people’s doorsteps.
Thanks to its funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Welsh Government, NRW and others, new volunteering roles have been profiled up and down the country within each of the 11 place-based projects, each led by a different partner within the collaboration. But there’s still so much to do and that’s where you come in.
As volunteers you could be doing any number of jobs that help NaB’s conservation efforts, from collecting water quality samples, building bat boxes, monitoring rare flowers to photography, supporting our social media channels or helping run a community event.
Every effort, big and small, goes a long way to helping our teams achieve their goals while providing you with practical work experience in fields like conservation, ecology and natural sciences.
There are currently 11 projects dedicated to 67 of Wales’ most vulnerable species, each one currently looking for eager volunteers to pitch in. Choose from:
|
Project |
Aim |
Location |
|
Adder Action |
Working across Wales to help understand and begin to address the recent (and potentially urgent) declines in adder populations. |
Gower, Ynys Mon and Pembrokeshire. |
|
High Brown Fritillary |
Taking the lead in the conservation efforts for the High Brown Fritillary – the UK’s most endangered butterfly.
|
Vale of Glamorgan |
|
NRW & Plantlife |
Increase monitoring effort for rare lichens and bryophytes of veteran trees across Mid Wales. |
Powys |
|
Working with volunteers, mountain guides, local plant nurseries, botanic gardens, land managers and experts to revive populations of rare montane plants and invertebrates in Eryri |
Eryri (Snowdonia) |
|
|
Supporting nature reserve management, chough monitoring (one of Wales most important breeding birds) and helping to unravel the mysterious ecology of a vanishing lichen - Cladonia peziziformis, AKA the Fire Lichen. |
North-West Wales |
|
|
Working with partners and communities to undertake timely and specific conservation interventions for 13 rare species identified as being at risk of local, and regional extinction. |
Swansea |
|
|
Buglife |
The last UK population of Isogenus nubecula (Scarce Yellow Sally) is found on the river dee, and we’re working to better understand the ecology and engage members of the public on the importance of this stonefly |
North-East Wales |
|
Marine Conservation Society |
A huge range of volunteer opportunities, from collecting water quality samples at strategic points along the coastline, beach cleans, and supporting long term monitoring of native oysters released in Pembrokeshire. |
North-West Wales & Pembrokeshire |
|
Bat Conservation Trust |
With the help of local volunteers, we are undertaking passive acoustic monitoring at key locations across Swansea to locate the routes that lesser horseshoe bats are using to fly in and out of the Gower where they roost. |
Swansea |
|
Bumblebee Conservation Trust |
A number of sites require increased monitoring effort for one of the UK’s most vulnerable bumbebees – the the Shrill carder bee (Bombus sylvarum). |
Pembrokeshire, The Gwent Levels and Kenfig |
|
Vincent Wildlife Trust |
Championing the secretive barbastelle bat — Ystlum du — Barbastella barbastellus, by building bat boxed for installation in woodlands in North and South Pembrokshire, and undertaking acoustic monitoring. |
Pembrokeshire |
If you’re interested in being a part of one or more of these brilliant projects, follow the individual project links or get in touch with NaB directly at naturambyth@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk
We welcome everyone to join the Natur am Byth journey – use the #NaturAmByth on your socials to search for volunteering opportunities across our platforms, check out our website or sign up to the programme newsletter to find out more.