Tuesday 18 November 2014

Independent mini Conservation NGOs ?


 A small local team to manage a 'cell' (a local area) 
Tree work (felling a dangerous Beech)
 Reed Planting on nature reserves
 Planting a pyracantha hedge (a wildlife friendly hedge)- as opposed to fencing
 Wildlife gardening
 Meadow management 
Wildflower meadow planting (this one an industrial estate) 
 A mature wildlife garden
 A mini-wildlife garden planted from scratch  (in Bedzed eco-village) 
 Recycling of all the green waste- logs for burning, woodchip for garden mulch and biofuel
 Some timber used for carving, furniture etc  
Public tours/exhibitions/workshops etc for skill transfer/awareness/new customers etc

I hear a lot about low wages and shortage of well paid job opportunities in conservation. The independent option is not a bad one- either self employment/partnerships setting up a company etc. The little company I run with my brother and friends manages green spaces (tree and hedge work, wildlife garden makeovers, habitat creation in private and communal gardens) in our local area (our patch), we do habitat restoration/maintenance on nature reserves and we do workshops/exhibitions/tours etc to promote our work and spread ideas. So basically we are like a micro-conservation organisation (we've got our green spaces(our 'reserves') we manage them for wildlife and we promote that work, pollinate ideas and attract new members/customers. We do some of our ecological consultancy/survey work our selves but personally I find it too tedious and prefer to be doing practical/business work so we work with consultants (independent ecological consultancy is of course another option for the independent minded conservationist). We've also got a few side lines which keeps things interesting- a bit of nature tour leading, writing etc (would love to get more into nature friendly farming in future). 
There's plenty of work in what we do (unfortunately we have to turn work down due to over demand), the financial rewards are good and its very rewarding in more important ways too.
A socio-economic landscape of a good number of mini practical conservation NGO's probably be a good thing for conservation? 

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