Exmoor National Park Authority - Get Involved

Every year  Staff and volunteers help hundreds of school children and families to visit and learn about Exmoor.  We need volunteers to help in different capacities, from:-

• Delivering educational activities
• Acting as marshals, ensuring safety on site (particularly with large public events)
• Helping with environmental play

What Next-

If you are interested in undertaking this role please sign up for the activities below or fill in the application form and a member of staff will be in contact to talk through the role in more detail.  Once fully signed up you'll be able to pick which events you are able to help with.

If you would like to have an informal chat first please contact as below.

Further info/contact- Name: Patrick Watts-Mabbott  Position: Volunteer and Outreach Officer    Tel: 07973727469      email: pwatts-mabbott@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk  or see contacts in the individual activities. 

Make regular trips to ensure your site is good order.  remove any litter, and make appropriate check as detailed for each site.

Exmoor Non Native Invasive Species  (ENNIS)

Main Activity           

There are three main areas of work to choose from in this role.

• Invasive plant surveying, using digital devices to record the locations of easily identifiable invasive plants namely: Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, Skunk Cabbage and Montbretia / Crocosmia.  This can be done on an adhoc basis by reporting a sighting online to report a single location you have found, or sign up to take part in more structured surveys.

• Crayfish control project, meeting every Tuesday in Withypool.  We ask for a minimum commitment of 6 half days over the year (more is welcome), checking traps in the river tagging and monitoring movement of crayfish around the river system.
• Crayfish presence survey, placing and checking crayfish traps in predetermined locations along the little Exe, Haddeo and Lyn river systems.  Minimum 1 day a week commitment for at least a month.

Sign up to check you river reach at least once before the end of August 2020.  After this if we still have gaps we will ask for people to fill them through September.times a year. 

The species we are mainly looking for are.

• Japanese knotweed
• Himalayan knotweed
• Himalayan balsam
• American skunk cabbage
• Montbretia

However we can accept observations for anything.  In fact if you don't find any of the target species.  It is usefull if you can record somthing every 250 meters or so so we can see where has been surveyed.

Anything you find should be added to the ENNIS project on iNaturalist where you will be prompted to state the side of the river, density of growth and m2 being covered.

 If you have doubts to the I.d. just add the photo and we'll do our best to help. 

It is always worth double checking you location as well.   Offten best done when you get home.

Below you should have a list of sites and routes we want surveying.  These are our priority routes, and we will try and assign 1 or two people to each one.  But feel free to also walk others, and also to look anywhere you go in the national park.

If need any help or have any questions call Patrick Watts-Mabbott 07973727469 or 01398322227 or email pwatts-mabbott@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk with a contact number and you iNaturalist username if you have one.