BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-04)

OURWILD WORLD

Howyou

canhelp...

WORKING FOR NATURE

Threeprojectsyou

cangetinvolvedin:

April 2020 BBC Wildlife 91

Steve Wells

Monitoring tree health, West Midlands, UK

Alloverthe

world,devoted

individualsare

doingtheirbitby

volunteeringto

getinvolvedwith

wildlife.Megan

Shersbymeetsa

manwhosurveys

UKtreesforpests

and diseases.

GardenWildlifeHealth

Helpscientistsmonitor

thehealthofspecies

foundinyourgardenand

identifydiseasethreats.

gardenwildlife

health.org

TheGreatBritish

WildflowerHunt

Enjoyflowers?Record

whatyouseeandsubmit

yoursightingstohelp

PlantlifeprotectUKflora.

plantlife.org.uk/

wildflowerhunt

Nature’sCalendar

ThisWoodlandTrust

surveytrackstheimpact

ofweatherandclimate

changeonwildlife.

naturescalendar.

woodlandtrust.org.uk

SteveWellsloveslookingattrees.

Hespendsmostofhisweekendsdoingso,

plusoccasionalevenings,alongsidehisdayjob.

“Ilikegivingmytimetosomethingworthwhile,”

hesays.“IfI canhelptopreserveour beautiful

treesandwoodlands,thenI have

spentmytimewell.”

Inspring2019,Stevegot

involvedwithObservatree,

whichis a collaborativeproject

betweenseveralorganisations

andcharities.It is runwith

approximately 200 volunteers

whohavebeentrainedto

recognisenewdiseaseandpest

threatstoUKtrees:“Ijoinedthe

WoodlandTrustinearly 2019

whenObservatreewasrecruitingnewvolunteers,

andwithina monthI wassignedupandbooked

ontotrainingcourses.”

Hevisitstrees,whetherindividually,inwoodlands

orinparks,tolookforsymptomsaffectingtheir

health:“Iaimfora goodbalanceoflocations,sothat

mosttreespeciescanbecovered,”hesays.“Icompile

reportsonmyfindingsandsubmitthemtothe

WoodlandTrustwheretheinformationis addedto

a databasefortheuseofprofessionalresearchers.”

Steve’sjobasa landsurveyorandconstruction

engineer takes him to the South West, where he fits

innewsurveys,butmostofhissurveyingis carried

outintheWestMidlands.“Oneofthebrilliantthings

aboutthisprojectis thatit is reallyflexible,”he

explains.“Theminimumcontributionrequiredis

12 surveysa yearbutit is easilyachievable– lastyear,

I actuallysubmitted 40 reports.”

Sometimesthevolunteeringworkinvolves

morethanjustlookingat trees,withreports

followedupwiththecollectionofsamples,

whicharesenttoForestResearchforanalysis.

“Thereare 22 prioritypestsanddiseases

thatareofparticularinterest,includingash

dieback,sweetchestnutblightandtheoak

processionarymoth,”explainsSteve.

TheWoodlandTrustrecentlyasked

himtobecomea leadvolunteerforthe

Midlandsregion,tohelpandsupportother

volunteers,andheis excitedaboutwhathissecond

yearofsurveyingwillbring:“Ifthetreescouldtalk,

I imaginethestoriestheycouldtellmeaboutwhat

hashappenedaroundthemovertheyears.I havea

particularfondnessforsurveyingatplacesofhistoric

interestforthatreason,wheresomeofthe trees have

been around for hundreds of years.”

FINDOUTMOREObservatree:observatree.org.uk;

WoodlandTrust:woodlandtrust.org.uk; ashdieback:

discoverwildlife.com/ash-dieback-guide

Ifthetrees

couldtalk,I

imaginethe

storiesthey

could tell me.

S

T

Knowanamazing

wildlifevolunteer?

Emailmegan.

shersby@

immediate.co.uk

DendrophileSteve

Wellsvolunteers

toprotectthe

UK’s native trees.