Written by Alex Marshall
The Andover Trees United Youth Team had a camping trip in Harmony Woods last weekend where they undertook a bat survey and they also set-up a moth trap.
Previously they have carried out various day-time based activities – tree identification, wildflower and bird surveys and setting camera traps – however, the team were really interested to see what sort of wildlife they would find at night!
The results were very exciting; we identified several species of moth, which are new to our records, including the very cool buff-tip moth.
And we can also now say for certain that there are bats present in Harmony Woods!
The data collected goes towards ATU’s on-going wildlife monitoring database and will be shared with national databases, too.
We are currently recruiting participants for our 2021 cohort. Participants must be 14-17 and committed to the project.
The programme includes:
- monthly activities in the woodland focused on woodland management, ecology and conservation
- work on your own mini research project
- monthly virtual meets to discuss progress and put together findings to share with our partner organisation based in Costa Rica, the Corcavado Foundation
- exchange communication with young people from Costa Rica
- volunteer additional time at ATU events and/or workdays
- Year 1: gain a Junior Forester’s award & John Muir Discovery award
- Year 2: support year 1 participants and gain experience organising ATU events
- End of year 2: potential to volunteer in Costa Rica
- Participants automatically join the ATU youth team – a Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots affiliated group
To find out more please email project ecologist, Alex Marshall.
