Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) on fallen pine bough, Scotland, November - Mark Hamblin/2020VISION
Volunteer with us
Volunteers are an essential part of the Mid-Wales Red Squirrel Project. Find out how you can get involved with Red squirrel conservation with our volunteering opportunities below.
Virtual Volunteering
We are using MammalWeb, a collaborative citizen science web platform set up by Durham University and Durham Wildlife Trust. Users upload their camera trap data, and volunteers can look through it, reporting back what species are in the photos of videos. The system is great and really easy to use.
Camera Trap Monitoring
For some lucky people who live within the core of the focal area there is the opportunity for the project to set up a camera trap station near to where you live for you to monitor via a remote camera.
There must be suitable habitat near and accessible to where you live, and you must be prepared to regularly input data from the traps into a spreadsheet. If you think that you fit the bill and are interested in monitoring a camera trap station, please get in touch.
Survey days
We sometimes need volunteers to help us complete targeted surveys to detect squirrels in areas where it is important for us to have current knowledge. For instance, we may wish to detect whether red squirrels have re-colonised areas once the project has carried out targeted grey squirrel control activity.
Survey information is essential for building a record of the project’s success.
A successful result could motivate more people to get involved with the project and encourage them to maintain their red squirrel conservation activities over the long term. With accurate information we can also target our work more closely and ensure we are putting our resources in areas where red squirrels need support most. All training is provided, get in touch if you would like to be involved.
Grey Squirrel Control - Trap Loan Scheme
The MWRSP runs a free Trap Loan Scheme, to distribute squirrel trapping equipment to landowners within the mid Wales red squirrel focal area to help in the effort to halt the spread of grey squirrels.
If you would like to get involved in our Trap Loan Scheme contact your local grey squirrel control officer. Both landowners and householders that own or manage land within the focal area are eligible for this scheme.
Trapping packs for households are available containing all the information you need to know about risk assessment, control methods, legalities and completing a trapping diary. Support with animal dispatch may be available from designated volunteer Community Controllers.
Training is available and provided to anyone carrying out animal dispatch on behalf of this project. Trained individuals can also opt to become Community Controllers for their local area.