Kirsty Ferris started volunteering in South Downs National Park when she was 18 and wanted to “give back” while gaining experience working outdoors.
Now 22 and running her own garden design business, she has spent hours cutting trees, building fences, putting up hedges, helping preserve the grasslands, and improving access to the beautiful countryside.
“Doing something that directly helps the environment is very rewarding and gives me that feeling of pride,” she said.
But Ferris is one of the relatively few young volunteers in national parks across the UK. It recently emerged that the average age of volunteers in some national parks is 63, and now people under 30 are being urged to sign up to help preserve some of the country’s richest landscapes for future generations.
A combination of aging rural residents, competing demands for youth time and lack of public transportation has left many national parks without young volunteers — a problem they are increasingly eager to tackle.
Yorkshire Dales National Park this week launched a campaign to get more young people involved in supervision, after noting that none of its 300 regular volunteers were under the age of 30.
It has introduced two initiatives – one for groups of under-18s who want to spend a day doing conservation work in the park, and one for people aged 18-30 who want to focus on a specific area of interest.
“Connecting young people to nature through educational, skill-based activity or volunteering is how we nurture a new generation that understands, loves, explores and advocates for the unique environment of the Yorkshire Dales,” said Neil Heseltine, Head of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. a national park.” He added that he hoped the young people would “forge a lifelong relationship” with the Yorkshire Dales.
It’s a similar story in Brecon Beacons, whose volunteers have an average age of 61. “While we greatly appreciate the skills that more experienced volunteers bring to the national park, we would like to diversify our volunteer base and add energy and enthusiasm for the team’s young volunteers,” said Amanda Breck of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority. 16,000 hectares of upland bogs Peat is an important carbon and water store but is easily damaged Restoring peat habitats can reduce the loss of these carbon stores and help mitigate climate change Volunteers will assist with surveys, practical peatland restoration tasks, and pathway repair work to reduce erosion.
Volunteering, she said, “doesn’t usually require any specific experience — just the desire to fall into the work and try things out.”
North York Moors is another national park that is looking for younger volunteers, especially for the Youth Council, who help make decisions about the park’s future as a rural community and green environment. It has received funding from the National Lottery Heritage Trust to provide transportation for families and young adults.
“There are many aspects of national park policy that directly affect young people, not least how we are dealing with the escalating climate emergency, affordable housing shortages and declining local services,” said Mary Jane Alexander, Youth Engagement Officer for the North York Moors National Parks Authority.
“It is absolutely right for young people to have a say in these matters,” she added.
“Inspiring people to take an interest in nature” has been part of the role of national parks, said John Buckman, chief executive of the Broads Authority, which operates the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads.
“Time and time again we see the transformative impact that volunteering can have on young people’s lives through their connection to the land.
“These volunteers often become influencers and leaders, helping to engage their peers to share their passion and get actively involved in environmental matters as well. This is why very young volunteers are so important to us.”
But it’s not all planting trees and installing fences. Bob Kane, the 20-year-old volunteer, is part of a management project in Kingorms National Park, during which he gained invaluable skills and experience – including a visit to Finland.
“There are a lot of negative stereotypes associated with living off the sticks and not having much to do. So it’s exciting to see what you can do when you put your mind to something, and it’s also great to have adults and these networks support you, because it’s so hard to do these things. by yourself “.
Cain, who is in his fourth year of politics and international relations at the University of Aberdeen, feels that volunteer work has given him a rare understanding of how things work in the real world.
“I think volunteer work, especially on a political level, opens your eyes to the real way things work.
“It seems like a lot of people come into the project lacking confidence and lacking public speaking skills, and that has been handed to them. It is something they will have for the rest of their lives.”