Volunteering at Oxford Island

In today’s busy society it can be hard to think about finding time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering are enormous, to you, your family and the community. The right match can help you find friends, reach out to the community, learn new skills and even advance your career. Volunteering can even help care for your mental and physical health.

The Conservation Service at Oxford Island provides a variety of opportunities for prospective volunteers to get hands on and involved in practical conservation work. Not only can you make a real difference to environmental issues but you will also be learning a whole new set of skills, meeting new people and having fun in the process.

Some of the projects that volunteers have been involved with include:

• Surveying for Barn Owls in the Craigavon area.
• Carrying out regular bat surveys at sites in Craigavon to identify species present and current population levels.
• Taking part in regular bird surveys and Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) counts to ascertain numbers of important visiting and resident bird species at sites around the Lough.
• Carrying out butterfly surveys as part of the Conservation Service’s regular spring and summer counts of species on site at Oxford Island Nature Reserve.
• The setting up and monitoring of tree sparrow nest boxes.
• Helping to remove the invasive Himalayan Balsam from the reserve at Oxford Island.
• Creating wildflower meadows at Oxford Island and at other sites in the Craigavon Borough.
• Removing willow from meadows at Oxford Island to prevent the ground drying out and returning to a natural woodland state.