Having secured funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Conservation Volunteers launched our UK-wide Natural Talent programme on Friday 10th October where they opened 12 new Natural Talent traineeships to deliver throughout the UK over the next two years.
The Natural Talent UK traineeship programme aims to increase expertise across the whole of the UK to protect our less well known species and create awareness of the habitats that support them. TCV’s Natural Talent UK scheme follows on from the very successful Natural Talent Apprenticeship programme that has delivered 44 apprenticeships since 2006 and was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Both programmes respond to identified skills shortages in the conservation sector by providing trainees with the opportunity to develop an expertise in a specific taxonomic group, habitat or a mixture of both. Natural Talent UK will also increase the capacity of volunteers and communities to play an active role in surveying, mapping and taking an action to increase the biodiversity of their local places.
This ground-breaking TCV programme has built upon the existing partnerships that TCV has across the UK whilst also working with new partners to explore new areas of study. As a result they have developed an exciting mix of opportunities for 2015. The 12 month placements, 6 of which start in January 2015, include a Marine Invasive and Non-Native Species traineeship based with Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh and a Saproxylic Insects traineeship based in the Museum of Natural History in the University of Oxford.
Each trainee will receive a bursary of £12,510 as well as a training, travel & equipment budget. To apply for one of these exciting opportunities, go to dev.tcv.org.uk/jobs
John McFarlane, TCV Environment Development Officer, said:
“We are delighted to launch the Natural Talent UK traineeship scheme and help to train the next generation of naturalists.
“There is a recognised gap in expertise that threatens many of the UK’s less well known species. TCV’s Natural Talent UK programme aims to change this by giving individuals the opportunity to learn about some wonderful and less well known species and their habitats.”