Practical Work Off Reserve (Species on the Edge Orkney Habitat Management Volunteer)

Do you enjoy the outdoors, wildlife watching and want to do something practical to help Orkney's wildlife? Species on the Edge Habitat Management role could be for you!

Why we need you: Species on the Edge is a partnership of NatureScot and seven conservation charities dedicated to improving the future of 37 of the rarest and most threatened species on Scotland’s coasts and islands. These species are all struggling and in decline and our islands are some of their last strongholds. Orkney is one of seven Species on the Edge project areas, and the team are working to protect nine target species across the county: Great Yellow Bumblebee; Curlew; Lapwing; Arctic Tern; Little Tern; Plantain Leaf Beetle; Common Pipistrelle Bat; Oysterplant; and Scottish Primrose.

The habitat management work we will be doing this year will be mainly to benefit the Great Yellow Bumblebee, however any work for this species will also benefit a range of pollinators and therefore their prey species including bats too. Great Yellow Bumblebee is associated with meadows and large expanses of flower-rich grassland, as well as dune systems and particularly with machair habitats in Scotland. Once widespread over the UK, the Great Yellow Bumblebee is found only in far north and west Scottish mainland and islands. Orkney supports one of the last remaining populations of this rare bumblebee. It is strongly associated with habitats rich in kidney vetch, red clover and knapweed. The species requires large, interconnected legume rich open habitats and is primarily found in coastal areas but is also found inland, including on road verges and farmland.

We are currently working with landowners and managers including Orkney Islands Council to create connected bumblebee habitat corridors on their land across Orkney Mainland following the Orkney B-line route (a vital Buglife initiative which helps connect up habitats). This year we will also be looking to recruit volunteers to help sow and collect seeds for pollinators as part of our Great Yellow Bumblebee work. Work for this will initially take place in May/ June planting seeds and then collecting seeds in the autumn and likely sowing some again in autumn too. Some seeds will be bought in for 2025 but will be sourced as locally as possible. If you or anyone you know can donate seeds to us (please ask land owner permission first) some seeds from your/their land please do let us know.

This pollinator work also directly benefits bats too so you are helping a wide range of specie whilst benefiting your own health and wellbeing and that of others too.

What you will do: • Help us hand-sow and collect wildflower seeds such as Red Clover, Kidney Vetch and Yellow Rattle to then plant on sites around Orkney. • Receive training online and/or in person to provide insight in this work and then on-site training on the day of the work groups associated with this role. • Attend our work group sessions to help us collect and sow wildflower seeds • For some surveys you will be asked to enter the data onto an online website used by the relevant partner, for example the Bumblebee surveys.

What skills you need • General fitness and ability walk across rough terrain and bend low to collect and sow seeds. • Willingness to learn identification of wildflowers and how to collect and sow them as well as some bumblebee ID so you can tell who visits them once they grow. • Ability to work well in a team and independently • Ability to travel independently to survey sites and work in remote locations

What will you gain? • Opportunities to meet new people and visit new places in Orkney • A chance to see wildlife closely and learn more about Orkney's important biodiversity • Hands on practical experience of creating habitats that benefit one or more of our Orkney species • Developing skills and building confidence in using survey methodology and species recording • Experience of working within the conservation sector in Orkney • Training and support and being part of the friendly Orkney team • Time out in nature for your own active health and wellbeing • Being part of the Species on the Edge programme having a direct impact for species, nature, and the environment • Travel expenses can be reclaimed