Volunteering for 30 Days Wild and Volunteer Week

This week is Volunteers Week so today for 30 Days Wild I'm blogging about volunteering!

As many readers of this blog will know I'm a regular volunteer with the Water of Leith Conservation Trust. I visit Colinton Dell along the river every week to record the wildlife and pick litter. I also take lots of photos!

This is a lovely part of the river, the walkway passes mostly through woodland

and at this time of year the buttercup meadows are gorgeous

The daisies are out in full bloom too, they are really pretty and (just like buttercups) well worth photos despite being so common

The cow parsley too, looks wonderful

Less wonderful is the amount of litter that gets thrown around in this lovely area. This is just one of the five bags full I picked today

On the positive side when it comes to litter, the situation in Colinton Dell is, in general, better than it was five years ago. There are more picnic sites full of litter these days but less general litter along the paths. There are also at least three people other than me who sometimes pick litter in the area.

Another problem can be damage to trees. In some of the open grassy areas, people will rip branches off the trees to make fires. This tree 'damage' though, seems innocuous and made me smile

Water of Leith Conservation Trust always needs volunteers to patrol the river (picking litter and recording wildlife as I do), join group clean up events, help with fundraising or work on reception. You can find out more about how to join in here.

I am also a campaigns volunteer for the Woodland Trust, taking part in some of their campaigns to protect ancient woodland across the UK. Please use the button in the sidebar to find out more about the Woodland Trust campaigns.

So why do I volunteer? I love the Water of Leith and enjoy looking after it, it's a great way of getting outdoors and learning more about how my local patch changes through the year. I also meet a lot of people in the Dells and often chat about nature and the river. The Water of Leith Conservation Trust looks after its volunteers well too! I am always keen to get involved with campaigns and woodland is something that I have a great affinity for, the campaigning with the Woodland Trust nicely complements the practical work I do for the Water of Leith!  It's definitely worthwhile getting involved in volunteering - if you're specifically interested in outdoor conservation volunteering in Scotland then the following may be useful:

The Conservation Volunteers.

The National Trust for Scotland.

Scottish Wildlife Trust.