Biosecurity Team Member (Biosecurity Ambassador)

We need your help to keep Scotland’s seabird islands free from invasive non-native mammalian predators. Over 2 million seabirds breed on the Scottish islands, but they can only continue to do this is they are kept free species like mink and rats. As a Biosecurity Ambassador Volunteer, you can help us reach out and talk to boat owners and other water users about preventing the accidental passage of any animal stowaways on to Scottish islands.

Scotland’s seabird islands are such important breeding areas for seabirds as they have historically, been free from mammalian predators. This, along with their proximity to rich feeding waters, has given the islands diverse and abundant seabird populations. This includes threatened seabirds such as Storm Petrel, Arctic Skua and Puffins: species with important strongholds in Scotland. In recent years the Biosecurity for Scotland has worked hard to keep Scotland’s seabird islands secure against the threat of non-native predators. This includes preventing the accidental release of mammals such as mink, rats and mice onto the islands and responding to any incidents where there was a risk of these mammals having reached the islands, such as through shipwrecks or cargo spills. The project, which has been running since 2023 needs to continue to keep these islands free from these non-native predators to sustain these iconic seabird populations.

With the help of Biosecurity Ambassador Volunteers, we are looking to link up with boat owners, tour operators and harbour users to communicate the importance of keeping Scotland’s islands free of mammalian predators.

As a Biosecurity Ambassador Volunteer you will be asked to talk with boat owners who go to seabird islands and distribute free biosecurity packs to the boat owners. These biosecurity packs include information on how to prevent accidental transfer of non-native predators from the mainland to the islands along with wax monitoring blocks to detect rodents onboard boats. We are looking for up to four volunteers to visit harbours around the Firth of Forth, Oban area, the Western Isles, the Northern Isles and potentially other parts of the Scottish coast to distribute 10 biosecurity packs each.

Ideally, we would have one volunteer based in each of these four areas to enable them to visit local harbours without incurring excessively long journeys.

The role is flexible and is likely to take place between May and August 2026. We anticipate that volunteers in this role would volunteer for between 5-10 days a year during this role.

The role is likely to include the following tasks:

• Driving to harbours in your target area, aiming to make visits at times when harbours are most likely to be busy (i.e., weekends or holidays) to distribute biosecurity packs.

• Engaging with boat owners or harbour operators about the importance of biosecurity. Detail of what we need a volunteer to bring to the role (skills, experience etc)

Training and support will be provided but the following skills and experience will be needed:

• Interest and enthusiasm in keeping seabird islands free from non-native mammalian predators

• Familiarity with and understanding of Scotland’s boat and yacht community (this might be as a fellow boat user or as someone with experience of interacting with boat users)

• Ability to confidently talk to people face-to-face about the importance of biosecurity

• Ability to get to harbours in your local area using your own transport (travel expenses will be provided)

As a Biosecurity Ambassador Volunteer you’ll be playing an important part in keeping Scotland’s seabird populations thriving. You’ll get the chance to visit some fabulous locations around the Scottish coast while talking to people about the importance of biosecurity. You’ll meet new people and hopefully have enjoyable conversations about our seabirds and how to keep them safe. You’ll get the chance to pick up skills and experience in community engagement at the same time as making a significant contribution to seabird conservation.

For more information and to discuss the role please contact David.tompkins@rspb.org.uk