Volunteer with wildlife

Find out how you can become a Sustrans volunteer and help to protect your local wildlife.

What does a Sustrans wildlife volunteer do?

Sustrans wildlife volunteers help us to keep a record of nature on their local route.

And they use their conservation skills to encourage and look after our furry and feathered friends.

Our wildlife volunteers look after our greenways on the National Cycle Network.

They monitor wildlife, plant and flower growth. And they protect animals and insects that call the Network home.

Sustrans volunteering and Covid-19

As restrictions begin to ease Sustrans will start to support small group volunteering activities on a case by case approach.

With the ‘stay at home’ message lifted, we continue to support our volunteers to carry small actions on the National Cycle Network.

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we've placed some restrictions on larger group volunteering activities to ensure the safety of our volunteers.

You are very welcome to apply for any of our current volunteering opportunities.

However, there may be a delay in processing your application. And you may not be able to get started properly in your role until regular volunteering starts back up.

Take a look at our Covid-19 page to find out more.

The benefits of being a wildlife volunteer

There are loads of great benefits to wildlife volunteering with Sustrans. 

  • Get close to nature without having to travel miles from home.
  • Make a real difference to your local wildlife.
  • Create spaces where people can come and enjoy learning about nature and conservation.
  • Meet people with the same enthusiasm as you and share your knowledge.
  • Learn new skills and find out about the amazing world on your doorstep.
  • There’s lots of free tea and biscuits.
Blockquote quotation marks
There's so much wildlife out there. You name it, we've found it. I love volunteering with Sustrans - it's out in the fresh air, it's in nature, it's helping the community, and it's just really good fun. Blockquote quotation marks
Helen, Sustrans volunteer
Group of volunteers looking at wildlife id guides and chatting

There are loads of ways you can volunteer with wildlife at Sustrans.

Vole on Lias Line

Record wildlife you see on the National Cycle Network

If you see a bird, plant, insect or animal that you can identify on the National Cycle Network, you can add it to a brilliant website we use to help record wildlife spotted in the UK. 

Go to the iRecord website and enter what you saw, where, and when you saw it.

It takes just a few minutes to add it to the site. The records are verified by experts and help towards conservation research.

Two volunteers smiling on the NCN with brushes

Give a couple of hours

Join us for a task day or a group wildlife monitoring session.

Activities can include:

  • making and installing bat boxes
  • surveying for butterflies and bumblebees
  • building a habitat pile for hibernating beetles.

Check out our events for a volunteer task day or training session near you.

Three volunteers litter picking on the National Cycle Network

Become a Sustrans wildlife volunteer

Looking for something a bit more regular?

Become a Sustrans wildlife volunteer and you can:

  • complete regular wildlife surveys and track the difference our work is making
  • take part in wildlife walks for your local community
  • come along to task days to carry out bigger activities like planting wildflower meadows and making bat boxes.
View our volunteer vacancies

Give a couple of hours

Got a couple of hours to spare? Join one of our volunteer task days and help to look after the wildlife in your area.

Become a volunteer

Want to help protect the wildlife calling the National Cycle Network home? Check out our volunteer vacancies for an opportunity near you.