Opportunities for volunteers discussed at Rewilding Harborough meeting

Over 50 attendees were welcomed by Harborough District Council and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust to hear about how their support will make a difference. 

Guests were able to meet key people driving the project forward and learn more about expected volunteering opportunities. 

The council’s Rewilding Harborough project aims to restore nature on 130 acres of land to the north of Market Harborough and Great Bowden, bringing benefits to wildlife, people and communities. It is a project expected to be of national significance.  

Cat Hartley, Director of Communities and Wellbeing, said: “Our Rewilding Harborough vision will need community support to help nature recovery. Although the principle of rewilding requires less direct management of the land, there will still be plenty of volunteer opportunities to become actively involved.  

“We anticipate a phased approach to volunteer involvement which will be determined by how the land develops but opportunities will range from more traditional estate management tasks such as boundary maintenance and livestock management, habitat enhancement such as tree planting where required; and engagement through health and nature focused guided walks.  

“There will also be a need to monitor the development of the project and we will need support to undertake a number of different ecological focused surveys along with general and fixed-point photography which we are planning to begin in early 2026.” 

Over 100 people have registered their interest to be a volunteer so far. As the project develops volunteer involvement will require sign up to a mailing list and group. More details of this will be shared with the community in due course.    

Groups and people who are interested in getting involved in the Rewilding Harborough project can email: rewildingproject@harborough.gov.uk