ENGLISH NATURE - Volunteers

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Volunteers directory

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Find volunteer opportunities

Visit our Area Team pages to find out what volunteer opportunities are currently available.

The following voluntary roles may be available at any of our Area Teams:

Voluntary NNR warden

A voluntary warden is usually associated with one - occasionally a group - of National Nature Reserves (NNRs). The range of duties undertaken by wardens is very broad, often depending on their skills and interests. Some act as ‘eyes and ears’ wardens, simply passing information back to the Site Manager. Others are more active and may be involved in:

		Patrolling the reserve
		Taking guided walks
		Assisting visitors - redirecting to paths, interpretation etc
		Litter collection
		Estate management tasks, such as scrub clearance, fencing or boardwalk building
		Scientific recording - collecting species records
		Staffing information centres

Voluntary batwardens

This team involves volunteers in handling bat casework. This usually means visiting people in their homes to provide advice and reassurance about bats. Bats are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and anyone who may need to disturb or handle bats is required to hold a Roost Visitor Licence. Anyone interested in being a batwarden can gain his or her licence by training with a registered trainer. You can register with English Nature as a trainee batwarden whilst you are training for your licence. Contact this team for details of registered trainers or local bat groups.

Batwardens play a vital role in promoting bat conservation and welfare, and give valuable support to English Nature’s statutory requirement to provide advice where there is a potential threat to bats.

Most batwardens also have links with the Bat Conservation Trust and/or the local bat group.

The role of the batwarden usually involves:

		Giving advice to members of the public in order to promote bat conservation
		Visiting properties - mainly domestic buildings but also occasionally trees, offices, warehouses, deserted buildings, bridges, caves - to examine them for evidence of bats
		Submitting a Bat Roost Report Form after each visit made at English Nature’s request
		Handling bats for identification or public relations purposes

Voluntary batwardens provide valuable support to Area Teams, who would otherwise be unable to provide such a comprehensive service to householders. They are able to share their knowledge and expertise with members of the public, and, for some people, this meeting may be the first and only time they come into contact with English Nature.

What do I need to do to Register as a volunteer?