For three years, people from all walks of life all over the UK have been flocking to RSPB Scotland Forsinard Flows Nature Reserve in the summer and autumn for a holiday with a difference – our ‘Conservation Working Holidays’. During their stay at the reserve’s field centre, visitors get the chance to help make a positive difference to conservation while enjoying the great outdoors of The Flow Country - one of Scotland’s most important national treasures. Jane Shadforth and Iain Nelson loved it so much that they returned the following year. Find out all about their first experience below:
Conservation working holidays in the North of Scotland – an opportunity not to be ‘mossed’
“We had a lovely week volunteering for RSPB Scotland at Forsinard Flows. We attended one of the weeks in September. Everybody was friendly and welcoming, and we were quickly made to feel like part of the RSPB Scotland team for our short stay.
The practical conservation work was very interesting and included: removing regenerating non-native conifer saplings from the recovering peatbog (pulling, lopping & sawing); peat-probing to measure the peat depth at established GPS locations within a recovering peatbog site; finding, marking and recording vegetation data on plots within an undamaged peatbog site; installing plastic dams to keep more water in the recovering peat bog and speed up recovery.
Photo Credit: Jane Shadforth
It was fantastic to know that our work was contributing to the much larger project of restoring and protecting the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland, one of the most important areas of blanket bog in the world.
The landscape was remote, beautiful and very dramatic in the frequently changing light, so whatever the weather (or midges) throw at you, it was just fabulous to be outside working with such a varying backdrop.
There was always lots of interesting wildlife to see & learn about, including: deer; frogs; toads; a fascinating variety of mosses, heathers, grasses and other fauna; butterflies; moths; spiders; dragonflies; beetles; midges; many other insects and even the sighting of the week…an osprey carrying a fish being pursued by a peregrine!
We had a lot of fun in the field with friendly teams of RSPB Scotland & Flows to the Future project staff along with other short/long term volunteers, enjoying al-fresco picnics under a group rain cover.
We loved the area so much that we came back for a 2nd week’s holiday 1 year later and stayed an extra five days. We climbed Ben Griam Beg, a hill on the reserve which has the remains of the highest hill-fort in Scotland. We were also treated to superb views of a short-eared owl.
It is a great opportunity to experience a ‘behind-the-scenes’ view of the RSPBs biggest reserve and witness some spectacular species. It is an amazing place to get away from it all and connect with nature. We gained new skills and enjoyed unique experiences. It was fantastic to be working alongside and learning from experts and we made some lifelong friends.”
We have positions available on five dates for this year’s working holidays:
If you are interested in working in this amazing place while staying at the reserve’s state of the art field centre, please visit: https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/volunteering-fundraising/volunteer/volunteer-opportunities/opportunities/273/ or email Claire Foot-Turner (Claire.foot@rspb.org.uk) and Jane Shah (jane.shah@rspb.org.uk)
like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handcar#/media/File:Draisine-templin.jpg
but they badly need to reduce their carbon footprint of getting around the reserve. A draisine might help!
it's certainly a great place and RSPB doing great work there too