Wild Paths trainees: Helping people into conservation careers

Wild Paths trainees: Helping people into conservation careers
Friday 12 August 2022
Established over fifty years ago by a small group of volunteers, Devon Wildlife Trust is the only charity that exists to protect all wildlife in Devon and to safeguard Devon’s unique natural environment.
Dorset Wildlife Trust
For the past three years, Devon Wildlife Trust has hosted Wild Paths trainees, giving people from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to gain experience in practical conservation and engagement skills. This programme has come to an end, but we wanted to take the time to share with you what Wild Paths traineeship has meant to those involved. Thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s ‘Skills for the Future’ programme, trainees Zofia and Caroline have been getting stuck in with nature conservation activities over the last year (October 2021-July 2022). Here’s how they got on…
Meet Zofia
Zofia grew up in the countryside and has always been fascinated by all of nature. After losing touch with the natural world during secondary school and through illness, she regained that passion when going out for walks and volunteering. As a volunteer for Devon Wildlife Trust, Zofia saw how much her colleagues loved their jobs, and they inspired her to pursue a career in practical nature conservation.
Meet Caroline
Caroline was brought up on the family farm from the age of 3 when her parents moved from London to Devon. Her childhood was spent growing up amongst nature, but she feels this was somewhat taken for granted until she was much older. Caroline ended up taking a very different career route for most of her adulthood, but she always had a passion for nature and the outdoors. Caroline remembers the abundance of wildlife in the countryside on her family’s ‘unimproved’ farm and she wants to do her bit in helping nature recover and flourish once more. 
Why a traineeship?
This ten-month long training placement offers residentials, training and qualifications, as well as opportunities to meet those in a similar stage of their career journey. The last three years has seen 30 trainees complete the programme.
Both Zofia and Caroline had previously volunteered for Devon Wildlife Trust, developing skills, building relationships and contacts within the Trust. However, getting a job in the conservation sector often requires formal training, for example a brush cutter licence, which can be difficult or costly to obtain. Traineeships like this help people ‘get a foot in the door’, while still having some income, making the opportunity more accessible than volunteering.
It’s not just outdoor training! Trainees attended a session on ‘Communicating with the media’.
February 2022
Thanks to our trainees, staff and volunteers, the Meeth Quarry tree nursery will now be supplied with rainwater from a storage tank! Their new chainsaw license also came in handy when winter storms brought down trees on DWT reserves.
March 2022
Trainees joined reserve volunteers in clearing scrub around the edges of ponds, making leaky dams and raising water levels to wet 'peat moss'. This helps improve the habitat for the small red damselfly by providing a clearer flight path and lots of sun!
April 2022
Last residential, packed with training, including H&S and risk assessments, project management and personal safety. Wildlife surveys and visiting an enclosed site for beavers rounded off a fantastic experience.
May 2022
Trainees learned how to build dry stone walls, a traditional technique to create field boundaries which blend into the natural landscape.
June 2022
Zofia took part in a dormouse survey under licence and was lucky enough to hold a sleeping dormouse!
 
Russell Brookes, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
Zofia and Caroline have been an amazing team - they have relished the opportunity and have put in huge amounts of effort into the traineeship and have gone over and above for DWT. I feel very lucky to have been involved in the traineeship since it started and personally I don’t think there can be a greater reward in life than sharing in a person’s development and seeing them gain new skills, overcome barriers, whatever they may be, to achieve their goals. It’s been an absolute pleasure to support their journey and I can’t thank the Wild Paths project enough for enabling me to play a small part.
Ian Chadwick, Nature Reserves Officer
Devon Wildlife Trust
Highlights and challenges
Zofia and Caroline both agree that one of the things they most enjoyed is getting to know the team and other trainees – a group of like-minded people who vary in age, experience and specific interests within the sector. Leading groups and responding to public enquiries have been key challenges they have risen to well.
A busy traineeship meant that prioritising tasks and working efficiently was crucial, and they have felt supported in tackling this challenge. Whilst the bursary and training go a long way to address the financial barriers of entering the conservation sector, Caroline did need to work part-time to subsidise the bursary. Helping to alleviate living costs so people can gain valuable conservation experience is something DWT tries to address with opportunities like our Full-time Nature Reserve Volunteer role.
And in their spare time…
Zofia has been working on improving her ID skills and general ecological knowledge and understanding which has been supported and built on within the programme. She has gained some personal experience in assisting with bat emergence and tree surveys, and writing up reports for those surveys. Zofia is particularly good at annotating photos and diagrams with the information she has learnt and has shared some fantastic photos for DWT’s digital channels.
Caroline knew she wanted to pursue a career in farm advisory work so, in addition to the traineeship, she enrolled on a soils course to develop/refresh her knowledge and understanding in this area. This has led to her successfully gaining the position of land advisory officer in DWT's Working Wetlands team. Caroline has also attended DWT training for hedge surveying and harvest mouse surveying which fell outside of the Wild Paths programme.
What have other trainees done?
Wild Paths trainees have gone on to work with both Devon Wildlife Trust and other sectors….
Sarah Augbaya - Wilder Learning Assistant - Devon Wildlife Trust
“The Wild Paths scheme literally changed my life, providing opportunity not usually afforded a 46 year-old working mother of two living in a rural community.
When I started Wild Paths my confidence was pretty low and I spent much of my time in a cold sweat! My mentor challenged me every day, but was also supportive and saw the potential in me. Having that belief from someone else gave me permission to move forward. Getting my chainsaw licence was a catalyst for change…the mist lifted and I began to feel I could do anything (almost)!”
Nate Evans – Ranger - National Trust
“Like many trainees, I felt I had missed my chance to work in conservation because I hadn’t studied ecology or environmental sciences at university. It wasn’t until I discovered the traineeship scheme that a spark of hope for this was ignited.
The traineeship has completely changed my view of the natural world and allowed me to connect even closer with it than I have before. It has also allowed me to gain work in a sector where I truly feel I am doing something beneficial for the planet, which in turn has given me a deep satisfaction and meaning in life. For this, I am eternally grateful for everything the traineeship and my mentor has given me.”
Thanks to
Want to get involved?
We want to grow, nurture and inspire a vibrant community of wildlife enthusiasts, who reflect the diversity of our society, who take action to help nature, and whose love of wildlife is shared with others and is impossible to ignore by decision makers.  There are lots of ways to get involved with our work, from joining a citizen science survey to becoming a volunteer. Take a look at pages below or email  contactus@devonwildlifetrust.org  to find out how you can join our community.