Opportunities to help make a difference to peatlands across the UK’s South West Volunteering roles

Working groups

From peat bund and tree maintenance to planting sphagnum plugs and learning how to identify dragonfly species, our practical working groups get you out into some beautiful spaces and contributing to the future health of peatlands across Exmoor, Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor and West Penwith. 

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• Thursday 14 May

  Join us for a varied day out, meeting at Princetown on Dartmoor. Peatland restoration works have been completed on this site over the last few years, and we are keen to improve and maintain the site further with a range of tasks.

  We will be checking in on a mix of native sapling species planted as part of works. Some of these species are specialists at growing in wet areas, helping to slow the flow of water and trap eroding sediment for natural flood management works, as well as providing a more diverse habitat for wildlife.

  We are also aiming to install a water gate, plant further willow saplings and hand-repair a peat block helping to raise and stabilise the local water table

Vegetation Survey Days:

Join us for our summer vegetation surveys if you are a registered volunteer with SWPP, or would like to be! These surveys help us to understand the impact of peatland restoration on the ecology of the sites. It is preferred that those joining us have either attended the vegetation survey training day on the 22nd of May, or have some experience carrying out vegetation surveys. Please note that these are long (but fun) days, usually meeting at 9am and finishing around 4pm. Some sites will require a moderate level of fitness due to their remote nature.

Vegetation Survey Training:

22nd May Central Dartmoor (exact location TBC)

An opportunity to learn about peatland vegetation from highly skilled botanists from DBRC. This day will give an introduction to the key species that we look for when carrying out vegetation surveys, and will be a great help should you be interested in joining our summer surveys this year.

Survey Region & Date

Bodmin Moor 02/06/2026

Exmoor 15/06/2026

South Dartmoor 23/06/2026

South Dartmoor 24/06/2026

Exmoor 01/07/2026

South Dartmoor 03/07/2026

Exmoor 06/07/2026

Exmoor 08/07/2026

Exmoor 15/07/2026

Exmoor 22/07/2026

South Dartmoor 24/07/2026

Contact Rachael, SWPP Education and Engagement Officer on rland@southwestwater.co.uk to register your place.

Dragonfly Day:

8th July

Central Dartmoor (exact location TBC)

A walk and talk with Steve our resident dragonfly expert to learn about dragonflies and how peatland restoration in the South West is supporting populations of declining species. Please note that this date is highly subject to weather and may be cancelled last minute if the conditions aren’t suitable for dragonflies. There will be a moderate amount of walking over rough terrain.

Dragonflies are highly sensitive to environmental changes, and so are great indicators of habitat quality on our restoration sites.

You don’t need to have any previous experience, just come along and learn!

Contact Rachael, SWPP Education and Engagement Officer on rland@southwestwater.co.uk to register your place.

Citizen Science

Water is key in our work to restore peatlands. Knowing where it's found and how much there is, and monitoring changes in this, is crucial in understanding the effect on the water table at restoration sites. We need enthusiasts to support our monitoring team to study and report on their findings using rust rods to monitor the water table, and surface levels rods to monitor the changes in the depth of the peat. Roles will mainly involve checking on surface level and rust rods and helping us to install further monitoring rods at different sites.

Frequency of volunteering: Roughly 1-4 times per year.

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Ecology Monitoring

Do you have a keen interest in surveying moorland birds, invertebrates, or plants? We need you! We believe our restoration works across Dartmoor, Exmoor and Cornwall are having a really positive impact on the wildlife, flora and fauna of the areas, but we need enthusiasts to support our monitoring team to study and report on their findings to help us find out more. This role involves undertaking species surveys (dragonflies, other invertebrates, birds, butterflies, sphagnum mosses or other vegetation) out on peatland restoration sites, often in remote locations.

Frequency of volunteering: Mostly Summer surveying, regular opportunities if interested.

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Fixed Point Photography - currently full. Please check back for more opportunities on this in the future.

Do you enjoy walking, hiking, running or cycling across Dartmoor, Exmoor, Bodmin Moor or West Penwith? We are looking for volunteers to help us to monitor our restoration sites by taking photographs from specific locations to build a bigger picture of the changes that are happening as a result of restoration work. Summer or winter, sunny or snowing, we want to see the changes that are taking place to the peatlands. This role involves taking photographs of the landscape from specific locations once every 4-6 months. This could be for one, or several restoration sites. We’d also welcome the taking photographs of any interesting wildlife, flora and fauna you see while you are there!

Frequency of volunteering: Roughly 1-4 times per year.

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Photographic Research

If you enjoy searching through photographic archives and would like to help in championing the future of peatlands from the comfort of your home, then this role could be perfect for you. We are particularly interested in showing changes that have occurred across peatland restoration sites from before and after restoration works.

This role could involve the carrying out of internet and paper-based research from a variety of photographic archives, researching to find photographs that show change on peatlands, and discovering any photographs that show the history of people and events at restoration sites.

·Frequency of volunteering: Based at home, frequency to suit you.

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Vegetation Monitoring

Do you know your myrtle from your mosses, a bogbean from a bilberry? We need you! We believe our restoration works across Dartmoor, Exmoor and Cornwall are having a really positive impact on the wildlife, flora and fauna of the areas and we need enthusiasts to support our monitoring team to study and report on their findings to help us find out more. This role involves carrying out vegetation surveys out on peatland restoration sites.

Frequency of volunteering: Mostly Summer surveying, regular opportunities if interested.

Read volunteer role profile here

Get in touch with Rachael Land on rland@southwestwater.co.uk to find out more about these volunteering roles or register your interest.