Be a heathland hero

Thursday 27 November 2025

Heathland Heroes

We are creating the county's largest block of heathland and connecting 600 acres of habitat. Join our Saving Worcestershire's Heathland's project team as they bring you the latest news and information from this amazing project

Volunteers at The Devil's Spittleful by Wendy Carter

Nick explores volunteering with the Trust, from the importance of volunteers to upcoming opportunities.

Our nature reserves of The Devil's Spittleful, Blackstone Farm Fields and Dropping Well Farm - Worcestershire's sandlands - cover over 250 hectares (617 acres) of land that is either established fabulous heathland or in the process of having its heathland restored. This is a massive area, equating to more than 150 football pitches.

The work we do to remove scrub and actively create heathland features like sandy scrapes, bee banks or planting desirable heathland plants, such as heather, is some of the most active practical management of any of our nature reserves. We could never do this without amazing volunteers. who give up their time to help wildlife. There's a regular group of about 20 people who undertake practical work across the heathland and they're joined by college and school students as part of their learning as well as corporate volunteers on team-building days.

More than 3000 hours are contributed by volunteers across this heathland each year, this is worth about £60,000! The benefit this brings to the habitat is immense and helps hundreds of species, from ground-nesting birds and bees to a vast array of plants.

A number of volunteers are clearing scrub in the winter on a heathland. One is holding part of a tree and smiling at the camera.

Many heathland volunteers say they enjoy it because it keeps them active; removing birch saplings and broom to allow other species to grow is tough work. They're essentially doing the work of large herbivores like bison, elephants or even mammoths. Volunteering is also a reason to get out and about throughout the year.

Others tell us that it’s great for socialising and meeting like-minded people whilst some mention the positive effect that volunteering has on mental health. Being out in nature for just a few hours a week can reduce stress, lower anxiety levels and improve low mood. So it's not just heathland wildlife that benefits from our volunteers; the individuals do too.

Practical conservation, though, isn't for everyone and there are plenty of other ways of getting involved. Our volunteer wardens, for example, are our eyes and ears. They stroll around the site talking to visitors, collecting information on visitor numbers, reporting any wildlife spotted and reporting any issues to our community warden officer, Ion. This role is vital in increasing our presence on the nature reserve and can be done whenever you have time and as frequently as you like.

You don't even need to be an official volunteer. An important way of helping out is to report the wildlife that you see - from plants and birds to invertebrates and mammals, every record is important. Knowing what's where helps us to plan our management. You can do this occasionally using our Wildlife Sightings form but if you'd like to get involved more formally, drop me a line and sign up as a surveying volunteer.

Finally, if you're a regular visitor and a dog walker, why not become a Project Yellowhammer ambassador? This great project encourages people to keep wildlife (and our grazing livestock) safe by keeping dogs on leads and sticking to paths. Chat to Ion or one of our volunteer wardens onsite for more information.