Green volunteering

There are many opportunities to get involved with tackling environmental problems and improving your local area. Find out about green volunteering where you live, and how to set up your own local environmental project.

Types of green volunteering

People from all walks of life are taking small steps locally which add up to make a big difference globally.

There are many different ways you can get involved to make a difference through volunteering. These include community work and initiatives such as:

wildlife conservation
environmental education projects
supporting international aid work
recycling
taking part in your nearest community group which works on environmental or global issues

Finding green volunteering opportunities

The Volunteer Now website gives you details of your local volunteer centre and provides information about local volunteering opportunities

Volunteer Now website

The following local organisations have volunteering opportunities:

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group

IWDG operate a scheme where members of the public, birdwatchers, skippers, captains, deck- hands, surfers, divers, pilots and whale-watchers can report any sightings of whales, dolphins or porpoises in Irish waters.

Volunteer for their sightings scheme.

IWDG sightings scheme

If you would like to learn a bit more about whales and dolphins IWDG run related events and whale watching courses throughout Ireland.

Ulster Wildlife Trust

The Nature Reserves team based at the the UWT Crossgar office is always looking for additional volunteers to assist with the management of the Trust’s 20 nature reserves across Northern Ireland.

Some aspects of the work that you would be involved in include practical conservation tasks, assisting with species monitoring, compiling flora/fauna lists for each site, project work, bird box building, tool inventories and risk assessments. If you are interested contact the Ulster Wildlife Trust and let them know.

The National Trust Northern Ireland

The National Trust has many different ways in which the public can get involved in conservation work. Working Holidays, Long - term volunteering or join a local volunteer group for example. Volunteering could include practical conservation tasks with wardens on the coast and in the countryside, involving anything from bird, mammal and geographical butterfly surveys to building traditional dry stone walls.

Other roles could include, for example, gardening, forestry, tour guiding, fencing, and hedge laying.

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

RSPB volunteers in Northern Ireland can get involved with practical management on their reserves, guarding nest sites and surveying seabirds, farmland birds and wildlife.

Have a look at their leaflet Volunteer information

RSPB volunteer information leaflet

The Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust (WT) welcomes volunteers across its 53 sites in Northern Ireland. Volunteers play an important role in conserving and protecting WT woods for future generations and are closely involved in a wide range of interesting and fun tasks.

The volunteers act as wardens of WT woods monitoring the woodland and its inhabitants, keeping the woods free of litter, encouraging biodiversity, helping with tree planting and guided walks, and acting as WT ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground. For further info.call 028 9127 5787 or visit the WT website.

Visit the Woodland Trust website

Conservation Volunteers

Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland is an environmental charity involving people in practical projects to improve their environment.

They have five offices across Northern Ireland; Belfast, Bangor, Coleraine, Castle Archdale in Fermanagh and Londonderry and there are volunteering opportunities in each office.

These opportunities are for our Conservation Action Teams, which operate in every office, Tree Nursery, Environments for All and Biodiversity.

A typical day volunteering could range from dry stone walling with the Conservation Action Team to coppicing hazel trees with the Biodiversity team.

If you would like to inspire people and improve places with Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland by volunteering or find out more about volunteering in your local area please contact: 028 9064 5169 or by email

Email Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland

Getting together with others to be greener

Get together with your friends or neighbours to see what you can do to improve the environment. By taking small actions in your household, you can help reduce climate change.

Global Action Plan (GAP) runs a programme called EcoTeams. This helps you set up a group within your local community, or with friends or colleagues. An EcoTeam is a group of at least four people who meet every month to encourage each other to achieve a greener lifestyle and compare progress.