The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues to have impacts on how we go about our lives as individuals and as a society. In the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative the health, safety and welfare of our volunteers, staff and wider public is our top priority and we follow the latest Scottish Government advice as to what we should and should not be doing as part of the collective effort to manage the containment of the virus and support the transition out of lockdown.

The Scottish Government has published “Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis” which guides us through a phased approach out of the lockdown restrictions. We have produced the information below as we continue to transition out of lockdown and our work resumes with physical distancing and other protection measures in place. 

Outdoor conservation work

Our conservation work to control invasive non-native species has restarted - with appropriate adjustments made to enable us to operate safely and in accordance with the current guidance. 

We recognise that outdoor volunteering has many positive benefits for both physical and mental wellbeing and where we are able to safely do so we will provide opportunities for volunteers to recommence work with us.

We have recommenced our work on mink control and many existing volunteers have also resumed monitoring their mink rafts and traps.  We are happy to hear from potential volunteers who would also like to get involved with the mink project. 

Our invasive plant control work is underway and we are now working with a small number of volunteers to undertake plant control. At present this involves very limited numbers of volunteers working alongside our project staff.

There is no obligation for any volunteer to restart their involvement with us – we appreciate and value all who volunteer with us, their contributions to our work and the choices they make to help us.  For those that are able to volunteer with us we have produced additional guidance documents for volunteering during the transition out of the coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown.

Group activities, events and outreach work

We must continue to operate in a socially responsible way and not put ourselves or others at potential risk.  So, at the current time, we will not be running any group events or activities, such as school groups, talks, guided walks, meetings or training events.  

Keeping up to date

As and when the Scottish Government confirms further easing of lockdown measures we will review our position and update our activities accordingly.

You can find our latest response to the coronavirus on the news page of our website.

You can also follow us on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram.

Updated: 24 June 2020