We have conservation volunteer work days on our nature reserves, some of the groups meet in one place, some rotate around different sites week by week.

On the conservation days, the terrain can be rough, muddy and exposed so you'll need sturdy shoes and suitable clothes.

You could be doing anything from litter picking, tree planting, scrub clearance or working with wood, including fencing.

Bournemouth

Based at Kingfisher barn, volunteers meet every Tuesday morning, Wednesday and Thursday all day.

The sites include:

• Stour Valley Nature Reserve
• Kinson Common Nature Reserve
• Turbary Common Nature Reserve
• Millhams Mead Nature Reserve
• Redhill Common Nature Reserve

To get in touch about volunteering at a nature reserve in Bournemouth, please email stour.valley@bcpcouncil.gov.uk.

Please email countryside@bcpcouncil.gov.uk to volunteer at:

• Hengistbury Head Nature Reserve
• Iford Meadows Nature Reserve

Christchurch

Christchurch Countryside volunteers meet every Tuesday from 10am to around 3:30pm.

The sites include:

• Steamer Point Nature Reserve
• Stanpit Marsh Nature Reserve and neighbouring sites
• St Catherine's Hill Nature Reserve
• Mude Valley Nature Reserve
• Purewell Meadows Nature Reserve

To get in touch about volunteering at a nature reserve in Christchurch, please email countryside@bcpcouncil.gov.uk.

Poole

The team meet throughout the year on most alternating Thursdays and Saturdays for habitat management work.

The sites include:

• Talbot Heath Nature Reserve
• Canford Heath Nature Reserve
• Ham Common Nature Reserve
• Bourne Valley Nature Reserve
• Alder Hills Nature Reserve
• Corfe Hills Nature Reserve
• Dunyeats Nature Reserves
• other sites in Poole including Dirty Lane Coppice and Branksome Dene Chine

We occasionally offer volunteer wildlife walks, nightjar walks, plant identification walks and we may get invited to sites such as Wild Woodbury to have a guided walk. Training events take place teaching bird, plant, butterfly and dragonfly surveying techniques after which you may want to join us for official surveys.

We also support Amphibian and Reptile Conservation trust and do a regular task with them each season.

In the winter, we have a Christmas thank you event with hot food and in summer we have a volunteer thank you picnic event too. We also offer free tea, coffee, hot chocolate and biscuits at every event.

To get in touch about volunteering at a nature reserve in Poole, please email heathwardens@bcpcouncil.gov.uk. We will send you forms to complete and further details on times that we meet.