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Volunteer & Farmer Alliance
The Volunteer & Farmer Alliance (V&FA) provides farmers with a survey of the birds breeding on their land, undertaken by RSPB volunteers.
Thanks to enormous enthusiasm from both volunteers and farmers, the V&FA has gone from strength to strength, providing a solid base from which thousands of farmers have been able to go on to give help to the birds on their land.
We have surveyed more than 6,000 farms since the project began in 1999. That's nearly half a million hectares! This has involved over 107,500 hours (which is in excess of 12 years) of volunteer support.
Are you an interested farmer?
There's no obligation for you to do anything with the results. But if you'd like to do more for birds and wildlife, we can put you in touch with professional advisers who can suggest ways in which to enhance the farmland for birds.
Unfortunately, as we are only able to undertake surveys of breeding birds between April and July, and because of the interest in agri-environment schemes, the annual demand for surveys sometimes exceeds our ability to provide them.
Are you an interested volunteer?
We pair up volunteers with a keen interest in using their identification skills, with farmers who recognise the important role they have to play in the recovery of farmland bird populations.
We can provide you with the necessary training to conduct the survey work with confidence. You would visit a local a farm to carry out three or four early morning surveys between April and July.
How to get involved
Until recently, the project has only been available in certain areas. Thanks to funding from the EU LIFE+ Programme, we are now able to offer surveys to farmers across the UK.
If you are interested in getting involved with the project, either as a farmer or a volunteer, please see the contact details below. You can also download our annual newsletters.
Contact
E-mail: v&fa@rspb.org.uk
Last modified: 02 December 2011