Volunteer to help amphibians and reptiles

VOLUNTEERING

"What sort of activities can volunteers help with?"

There are a number of tasks that volunteers for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation can get involved in...

Practical tasks

A huge part of our volunteer work focuses on the management of our reserves, many of which are heathland habitat. Volunteers can get involved with the conservation and restoration of this special and endangered habitat on ten of the 45 sites in Dorset. The regular practical tasks vary from week to week depending on the needs of a particular site, but the majority of the work is the removal of scrub and keeping the habitat in good condition, usually accompanied by a warming fire and lots of tea and biscuits - great on a cold winter's day!

Surveying

Another major part of volunteer work involves the surveying and monitoring of reptiles and amphibians on our 10 main Dorset sites, during the spring and summer. Monitoring of species is a great way to get know the sites you may have done practical work on, and find out if the management is actually working. We provide training on how to identify some of the species found on site, usually at the start of the survey season. The data that gets produced is vital for local records and on a national scale. It all gets fed into national recording schemes to build up a wider picture of what is happening to our herpetofauna. If you are not local to one of our sites find out how to join your local Amphibian and Reptile Group (ARG). There is also the National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme if there is no ARG near you, which can provide you with an opportunity to survey herpetofauna near where you live.

Site wardening and 'Friends of' groups

Some of our sites have dedicated groups attached to them; these 'Friends of' groups are made up of local people who take a special interest in the well-being and conservation of their local nature reserve and the people that use it. This is an extremely valuable resource for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, as it means there are people right on the doorstep of a site who care about looking out for it and the wildlife that calls it home. Other sites have volunteer wardens, allowing us to have a presence on the reserve even if staff can not be on site all the time. Wardens have a real sense of ownership of their designated reserve and are a contact point within the local community.

As well as there being plenty of opportunity to volunteer with us, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation also works closely with Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK) - a network of local volunteer groups, usually organised on a county basis.

More information:

Volunteer support. >>>

ARC volunteer opportunities near you. >>>

Latest volunteer newsletter (Dorset). >>>

ARC Reserves. >>>

FAQs about volunteering. >>>

Volunteer charter. >>>