Volunteer Coordinator (Species Monitoring at Lough Neagh - Butterflies and Dragonflies)

This is an exciting new opportunity to work with our Reserve staff to develop a team of volunteers to help protect two priority species in the Lough Neagh Basin – The Marsh Fritillary and Irish Damselfly. The Marsh Fritillary is a beautifully checked butterfly and is the brightest and most colourful of our fritillaries. The larvae spin conspicuous webs that can be seen in the late summer in areas where the butterfly is present. Once widespread across the UK, this species has undergone several declines in the past century (73% population decline between 1995 and 2004). The UK is thought to be a strong European stronghold and the long-term survival of this species is dependent on a network of suitable habitat. This is a great flagship species as its conservation can benefit a whole host of other species. The Irish damselfly is one of the blue species. Males have a predominately blue abdomen and bright green colouration of the underside of the thorax. This is a UK amber list species. The species is considered to be rare or severely threatened throughout its range and occurs in scattered populations in northern and eastern Europe. The species has never been recorded in GB, despite suitable habitat. It is currently restricted to the island of Ireland. The conservation of the species in the UK is dependent on the maintenance of the colonies in Ireland. Ireland is considered to have one of the largest populations in Western Europe and is therefore of international importance.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

• Join a wider network of volunteer coordinators across Northern Ireland to assist in species recovery
• Develop butterfly/dragonfly transects to look at trends
• Help manage an develop the team of volunteers already working on surveying the species
• Supporting the Site Manager or project manager, reserve wardens and project officers with volunteer administration and recruitment as necessary.
• Dealing with queries from potential new volunteers who get in touch.
• Being the first point of contact for our existing volunteers and answering general queries.
• Lead on advertising new volunteer roles (on the RSPB and external websites, in the local community).
• Set up interviews with potential volunteers and assist with induction administration.
• Administrative tasks such as recording volunteer hours, registering new volunteers on our database, creating ID badges, organising rotas and processing expenses claims.
• Championing the RSPBs annual volunteer engagement survey.

This role will require approximately 6-12 hours of work per week. There will be general flexibility to fit those hours in around your existing commitments. Training will be provided in everything you need to know beforehand, and we'll support you every step of the way. You'll have access to the RSPB computer network so you can comfortably carry out your role at home.

"I really enjoyed volunteering at Montiaghs Moss in summer 2021. Working on marsh fritillary conservation felt very important as there are estimated to only be 8 breeding sites left in Northern Ireland for this beautiful butterfly. Doing vegetation surveys gave me the chance to improve my botany skills and gave me the opportunity to see the diversity of rich habitats at Montiaghs and the work done to manage them. Helping with dragonfly and damselfly surveying was incredible - this is possibly the richest site for dragonflies and damselflies in Northern Ireland! I saw many beautiful species, but working with the Irish damselflies was the most rewarding part. Getting photographic evidence that the pools that RSPB NI created are supporting actively breeding Irish damselflies has been one of the highlights of my volunteering experience with the RSPB to date!" - Dakota Reid, former QUB volunteer