It is amazing to finally be in post at Warley Woods Community Trust- I feel very fortunate to be your Wild Warley Project Manager, you have a lovely site here; just how you kept it secret from me all these years I do not know!

First and foremost, I thought it may be useful for you to get to know me a little better. As you probably have guessed I am into nature conservation. I find the natural world truly fascinating; this is not just a job for me, at the risk of sounding cliché this really is a lifestyle choice.

On my days off I am often found hunting down rare butterflies or birds I have yet to see in real life. I am also into wildlife photography and consider myself a keen amateur - you may have already seen some of my photos on the Warley Woods Community Trust Instagram/ Facebook pages. Interests outside of nature include hiking, cooking and rock climbing.

I have spent some of my first two months here setting up various Wildlife Surveys - it is important that we can monitor the wildlife we have here on site both before and after conducting management practices, then we can assess whether they have been successful or not. The first surveys we will likely to be conducting will be monitoring breeding birds. I will be conducting a bookable training workshop on breeding birds surveying where you are more than welcome to come; if you like it you could become a Wild Warley Woods Breeding Bird Surveyor!

Wild Warley endeavours to provide a range of wildlife events and I hope that between us we can make Warley Woods better for both nature and people! Wishing you all a Wild Spring.

Doug

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Doug will be working at Warley Woods for 30 months overseeing both the engagement work and practical conservation work.  He works Wednesday - Friday and can be contacted on [email protected]  His post, as with the majority of the Wild Warley project, is made possible thanks to funds from the National Lottery.

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Our Wild Warley project is fully funded thanks to grants, but Warley Woods Community Trust still needs to raise funds to care for Warley Woods 365 days a year.  If you could help with this, then please join the Trust it is just £12 a year for a family and really helps make a difference.