Conservation

Conservation organisations help to look after the world around us. They may be concerned with the countryside and the natural environment, our heritage of buildings and their contents, our long term effect on the global future, and much more.
More details of different types of conservation are available from the specialised organisations listed below. Many of these organisations use volunteers on a regular or occasional basis.
Activities can range from acting as local guides to clearing derelict land areas, as well as the more general things like fundraising and administrative activities.
Some activities are fairly energetic, but there are plenty of more passive volunteer jobs as well.

British Association of Nature Conservationists www. banc.org.uk/ 01604 405285
British Trust for Conservation Volunteers www.btcv.org/ 01491 839766
Centre for Alternative Technology www.cat.org.uk/
Civic Trust www.civictrust.org.uk/
Council for the Preservation of Rural England CPRE www.greenchannel.com/cpre/
English Nature www.english-nature.org.uk/ 01733 455000
Friends of the Earth www.foe.co.uk/ 0207 490 1555
Green Net www.gn.apc.org/
National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens 01483 211465
Places for People 01273 542660
Royal Society for Nature Conservation/Wildlife Trusts www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/ 01522 544400
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds www.rspb.org.uk/ 01767 680551
Save Britain's Heritage 0207 228 3336
The Landmark Trust www.landmarktrust.co.uk/
The National Trust www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
World-Wide Fund for Nature WWF www.wwf-uk.org/

See also the organisations listed under Volunteering

CPRE Voice

National Trust Magazine

The Ecologist

Find a local conservation group or club that covers the type of activity that interests you (see organisations above).
See if your local group offers introductory sessions or events. Take a class or course relevant to conservation at your local adult education centre. Check magazines or the Internet for conservation weekends or holidays.
Consult books or magazines on different types of conservation and care for the environment.
Check in your local library/paper or volunteer centre for more information.

Conservation volunteers can be people of all ages and both sexes. No special skills or knowledge are required to get started though you can learn much while volunteering.
You can do your bit on your own to help conserve the world around you, but to be a volunteer you need to be in contact with people from one or other of the specialist conservation organisations. They will help you to find out what you can do to improve things.

As a volunteer you don't usually need to have any special equipment, though volunteer administrators may use their own computers and the like at home.

For the more active and specialist kinds of volunteering, you may need transport to go the places where help is needed, whether in the towns or countryside.
Fund raising and administration will generally involve activities locally, with some work at home.