Hello, I’m Haley (she/her) and I’m 28 years old. I was born in Shropshire and have lived in Shropshire for most of my life. I recently became a member of Shropshire and Staffordshire National Trust Volunteers who are involved with practical conservation work at a variety of estates. I have been a moderator of Plantlife’s #WaxcapWatch: WaxcApp Surveyors Facebook group since November 2024 and have learnt how to identify and survey for waxcaps, a group of grassland fungi.  

I previously was a participant of the Growing Confidence Project between September 2020 to June 2021 which involved being part of a youth forum called Youth for the Wild, Make My Weekends Wild practical conservation days and Question Time discussions. 

I graduated from Bangor University in July 2022 with an integrated masters degree in Zoology with Conservation and achieved a very high 2:1. My dissertation project involved the morphological analysis of Rhamphochromis sp. ‘chilingali’, an undescribed species of cichlid fish endemic to Lake Chilingali in Malawi. It is thought that this ‘species’ is potentially extinct in the wild due to the collapse of an irrigation dam and subsequent changes in water levels. My masters research project involved assessing the soil properties at the proposed site of the Chester Wetland Centre. However, it was notified by Natural England that there may have been peaty soils present at the proposed site in the Countess of Chester Country Park. I collected soil samples and conducted analyses that indicated that there were no peaty soils present. This meant that the initial design plans by Binnies remained unaltered. Alongside my studies, I volunteered on practical conservation work parties with the Snowdonia Society and North Wales Wildlife Trust such as rhododendron clearance, reptile surveying, coppicing, deadhedging, otter holt construction and footpath maintenance.  

A week after graduating, I travelled to Costa Rica and spent eight months volunteering at wildlife rescue centres. My greatest achievement from this time was playing a significant role in the successful rehabilitation and release of four endangered grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedii citrinellus) back into the wild after they become orphaned due to their mothers being electrocuted.  

Ever since returning to the UK, it became even more apparent as to how depleted of wildlife this country is. This is one of the reasons why I decided to join the Youth Forum as I desired to meet like-minded young individuals from Shropshire who shared my passion for wildlife conservation. At present, many of the members of wildlife conservation groups in Shropshire tend to be of an older age. I believe that is vital to include young people in wildlife conservation so that their views and opinions are heard. We will be the future decision makers and leaders who will offer new insights and harness innovation to combat the biodiversity and climate crises. Our generation and future generations will be directly impacted by the decline in biodiversity and climate change. We need to take action to protect wildlife in Shropshire before it is too late.  

The Youth Forum is open to anyone aged between 16 and 30 and live, work or study in Shropshire or Telford and Wrekin. If you are interested in being involved email youth@shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk and we will be in touch with more information.