Saving Eryri, one balsam plant at a time

December 2021, Monday, 10:00 AM

I am standing on the edge of a wide expanse of heath that stretches upwards into the clouds hiding the summit of Rhinog Fawr. Behind me a dense conifer plantation is the source of an advancing battalion of saplings and young trees that are already spreading across the heath and threatening to choke out this native habitat. This remote heathland is internationally important, providing a vital habitat for ground nesting birds and other threatened species. For me it is one of the few areas  left in Eryri that feel genuinely wild. Protecting the habitat from these alien invaders is why we are here today. My new colleagues, Mary, Jen, Owen, and Alf, are gathered in a semi-circle, listening intently to our Senior Conservation Officer, Dan, as he explains why we are here: To remove the young conifers and saplings in order to create a buffer zone around the plantation. This is my first practical workday with Cymdeithas Eryri (Snowdonia Society) and the start of a week-long conservation training program where I’ll learn various practical skills and get to know the rest of the team. Despite the drizzly December weather, I am thrilled to be out.

Little did I know then that my six-month trainee conservation contract would turn into two and a half years of employment. This article offers a brief overview of my time at the Snowdonia Society and a glimpse into the fantastic opportunities a job here can offer, especially for someone looking to break into the field of conservation.

My first few months as a trainee flew by. Initially, I shadowed our conservation officers, Dan and Mary, as they led practical days around Eryri. We cleared gorse off archaeological remains, planted trees, repaired footpaths and managed woodlands. This period was a fantastic opportunity to learn about conservation in Eryri and to become more familiar with the landscape and nature.

An unexpected challenge quickly surfaced during this time, navigating around the National park. As a member of the Google Maps generation, I was used to firing up my phone, dropping a digital pin, hopping in the car, and letting technology guide my every turn. But in Eryri, life wasn’t so simple. Farm tracks often didn’t appear on maps or vanished when you arrived, and signal dead zones were around every other bend. My high-tech survival strategy quickly crumbled. I soon learned to screenshot the entire route before setting off and to allow myself an extra 30 minutes travel time to account for opening and closing the hundreds of farm gates.

Shadowing different staff on these practical conservation tasks was extremely useful. The core content remained the same: a health and safety talk, a short introduction to the task, and a quick demonstration, then leading by example. However, the delivery and the ability to let personality shine through were key. Dan had a very methodical delivery and was always calm and to the point. Mary was enthusiastic, explained things in great detail and was very attentive to the volunteers.  Both built an instant rapport with the volunteers and made the days professional and enjoyable. Finding my own style of leading would take some time. But before I could lead, I needed to get my First Aid in the outdoors to ensure I could safely look after volunteers. This was one of many courses and qualifications that the Snowdonia Society provided during my time there. Once I had First Aid training under my belt, I began leading volunteer days solo.

My first summer was filled with leading Caru Eryri days, a partnership project dedicated to addressing the challenges posed by visitors to Eryri. Issues like footpath erosion, parking pressure, and litter are common concerns. Every weekend from April to September, this project organises volunteer days in the most popular areas. Our goal was to be present in these high-traffic spots on the busiest days, serving as a positive presence, offering advice, picking up litter, and maintaining footpaths.

I was always amazed at the number of people who showed up to donate their time to care for the National Park. Last year alone, 149 people volunteered for this project! This clearly demonstrates the deep sense of stewardship many people feel for Eryri. During that first season, I spent most weekends leading small groups of volunteers, learning, and improving my ability to handle various challenges. For instance, learning to say “no” to taking someone’s coffee cup or asking someone to put their dog on a lead was initially out of my comfort zone. Fortunately, I realised that most people are open to suggestions, especially if they come with explanations. For example, when requesting that dogs be kept on leads, explaining that there are livestock and ground-nesting birds in the area usually results in a positive outcome. However, it’s not always successful, and in those cases, it’s important not to escalate the situation and to simply move on—you’re not going to change their mind!

It’s important to note that these incidents are always outweighed 100 to 1 by people thanking us and offering support. As a leader, all of these experiences add up to valuable lessons and are the reality of working in popular outdoor spaces.

As the seasons change, so does our volunteer work. Winter is the season for tree planting, scrub clearance, and lowland footpath maintenance. These days are often my favourites as they provide an escape from the office and a chance to be out in the rare winter daylight. There is also an infectious sense of accomplishment reserved for completing physical tasks on the wettest, windiest, and coldest days. And if you’re lucky enough to have a sunny day, the satisfaction of being one of the few people out enjoying the rare winter sun makes it all the more rewarding. If you don’t believe me, why not see for yourself and volunteer with us next winter.

As 2023 rolls around, I feel more confident in my ability to lead and run volunteer days. By now, I have led countless public days, many school days, and a handful of corporate events. All of which helped me learn about dealing with different age groups and types of people. Here are a few key points I have learned about different groups so far:

• Primary kids are chaotic and unpredictable, yet easily tamed by turning any activity into a competition, no matter how ridiculous.
• Teenagers are extremely focused on appearing to not care, however this often disguises an interest they don’t want their mates to know about.
• Volunteers must have a morning tea break and lunch no later than 12:30 – forget this at your peril!

This year also started with an incredible opportunity through work to attend a mountain leader (ML) training course. This course is all about developing the skills of leading and keeping people safe in the mountains, and is an essential requirement before tackling the ML assessment. This 6 day course taught us about micro navigation, dealing with dangerous terrain, basic rope skills, and camp craft. All these skills were highly relevant to being a conservation officer, and left me feeling more confident leading groups and understanding when an ML would be required for our volunteer days. On the final day of the course we put everything we’d learned to the test with a night navigation and camp.

The night navigation took place in Cwm Llan, on Yr Wyddfa on a starless night in January. I was pretty familiar with this Cwm from leading volunteer days here, where we would repair and build sections of footpath and spend many hours picking up towels and underwear from the instagram famous Watkin pools. However at night, everything felt alien and mysterious. Scanning the map for navigational features, my eyes kept being drawn to the place names – cwm y bleiddiaid (valley of the wolves) and bwlch y saethau (Pass of the arrows). These names came alive that night, sheep turned into wolves the moment they left my torches beam and King Arthur being ambushed and killed at bwlch y saethau felt like history not legend.

There are too many exciting projects to list in this small overview, but one I remember particularly fondly was our engagement with the RSPB on their Curlew Life Project. Three other staff members and I helped survey the moorlands around Ysbyty Ifan to collect data on habitat type, predator density and curlew nesting locations. Contributing to this project on such a charismatic bird, whose future hangs in the balance, was a privilege. These surveys in such a quiet part of Eryri led to some of my favourite wildlife encounters at work, such as seeing a grouse spooked from the heather and having a ghostly hen harrier whizz over my head as I ate my sandwiches. Not to mention getting to see curlews as they paired up and disappeared into the tall rushes in search of a hidden spot to build their nest.

Leading volunteer days is only one aspect of this job. Another core component is engaging and sharing the conservation work the Snowdonia Society does with the public and partners These opportunities come in many shapes and sizes, from speaking to local youth groups to presenting at key stakeholder meetings. All of these are great opportunities to work on public speaking in both English and Welsh and to tailor content to make it engaging and specific to the audience. Here are the two most important things I learned from these talks:

• Don’t over practise or write scripts — this can throw you off when you inevitably forget a line.
• If kids lose interest, ditch the talk and play games! We want them to enjoy conservation, not find it boring.

One unforeseen benefit of working for Cymdeithas Eryri was the amount of Partnership work that we do. As a conservation officer many practical days will be led in partnership with environmental organisations within the park, be it planting trees with the Woodland Trust or fixing peat hags with the Eryri National park Authority. This cooperation between organisations is beneficial for everyone involved. The volunteers get added value from the knowledge and expertise of the Partners. Whilst we help them through organising and recruiting our brilliant volunteers who turn up and deliver the practical conservation work! And from a total selfish reason, they add value to me through their knowledge and also give you a great understanding of the different conservation jobs that there are in Eryri.

This approach is key to our diverse and full volunteer calendar and benefits all involved.

This article has only skimmed the surface of my time with the Snowdonia Society. While I haven’t delved into all the details of our work, I hope it has given a flavour of what being a conservation officer here is like. And yes, I did skip the office stuff — because, let’s face it, who wants to hear about Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, or even worse, Teams! If you’re looking to dip your toes into the world of conservation and build a solid foundation of skills, keep an eye out for job openings and gain valuable experience by volunteering with us.