Welcome

Would you like to become involved in practical tasks to improve the wildlife habitats where you live?  Would you enjoy travelling with us to other parts of Europe to help our partners with their environmental protection challenges? Would you benefit from the fresh air and exercise and the boost to self-esteem that our practical activities will give you? There are new skills to be learnt and beautiful places to visit.

             La Brenne EuCAN team November 2015

EuCAN offers a many different ways to become involved. We have an exciting programme planned for 2017 – click here for more information.

Have a look at our Flickr site to get an idea of the range of activities we have been involved with!

Our wildlife holidays to La Brenne in 2014 and 2015 and to Aggtelek in north-eastern Hungary in 2015 each made a small profit, and this money along with the proceeds of our contract work has been used to subsidise three very successful and enjoyable practical conservation visits in 2016 to Estonia in June, to the Haymaking and Scything Festival in Transylvania in August and to La Brenne in central France again in November 2016. We are returning to La Brenne in July this year to see the butterflies, moths, birds and all the other fabulous wildlife there. Link here.

How you can get involved this year!

Through the year: habitat management contracts in Dorset and Somerset – we are looking for volunteers, trainees and sub-contractors. Summer is generally a quieter time for contracts but we have plans in place for Himalayan Balsam removal, ragwort pulling and cutting and ongoing habitat management work for Butterfly Conservation. Click here for more info.

strimming Himalayan Balsam on the slopes of the Beaminster Tunnel

Our regular Volunteer groups are always on the look-out for new members - join in, it’s great fun, costs nothing and you will learn new skills, visit lovely places, get healthy exercise and fresh air – and at the same time contribute to the improvement of some of our best wildlife habitats.

The EuCAN Mid-week Volunteers meet every Wednesday for a variety of different tasks, mainly in south Dorset. Minibus transport is provided from Weymouth and Dorchester.Contact the group leader, Dave Searle, via this link to our website:  http://www.eucan.org.uk/uk/dorset/dorset-mid-week-group/

The EuCAN Somerset Volunteers generally meet every Tuesday .Based in south Somerset, the group carries out tasks on a great range of sites in Somerset and north and west Dorset. http://www.eucan.org.uk/uk/somerset/somerset-eucan-volunteers/ . In addition to practical work, we also have a programme of walks and visits planned for the summer.

The Milverton Conservation Volunteers meet monthly and are based in the west Somerset area. See  http://www.eucan.org.uk/uk/somerset/milverton-local-volunteers/

We will also be continuing with the Cerne Valley Community Landscape Project , now in its fifth year, and are always on the look out for more volunteers.

Cerne Valley Community Landscape Project volunteers working at Yelcombe, Cerne Abbas.

We created a glade in the woods at Nether Cerne to improve the habitat for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly