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| Title | Rutland & west Lincolnshire: Mink Control Project Officer |
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Rutland & west Lincolnshire: Mink Control Project Officer Waterlife Recovery Trust Rutland and West Lincolnshire £27,000 pa Paid • Full Time • Fixed Term Contract (Self Employment considered) www.waterliferecoverytrust.org.uk Sectors: conservation & wildlife Closing date: 18th July 2024 The Waterlife Recovery Trust The Trust is a charity, registered in 2022, with origins in the Waterlife Recovery East (WRE) project. WRE started in 2019 when partners from the long running East Anglian Mink and Water Vole Group joined with others from the fields of wildlife conservation, water management, game shooting and fishing. All shared the goal of bringing life back to the waterways and wetlands of East Anglia, through the removal of one highly damaging invasive, non-native species: the American Mink Neogale vison. The original WRE project had three linked objectives:
Underpinning this was the vision that an effective model could be developed which could then be used to promote mink control, and ultimately eradication, throughout Great Britain. The Waterlife Recovery Trust was formed to help make this vision a reality by facilitating the development of a ‘family’ of catchment-based mink projects working throughout the country. With support from our partners and hundreds of citizen scientist volunteers we have been able to show that eradication is achievable using trapping alone. We now need to encourage others to be part of the family and together roll out best practice across the country. Job Overview A full time, fixed term, post is available for a period finishing on 31 March 2025, to help deliver the vision of a 'mink free GB'. The employer is the Waterlife Recovery Trust, and the posts are part funded by a grant from Natural England. If follow-on funding is secured, the post may be renewable. The purpose of the posts is to remove invasive American mink from an area centred on the northern half of the River Witham catchment. It is part of a project stretching from the Thames to Lincolnshire*, to protect endangered water voles and other native wildlife and allow their populations to recover. The post-holder will develop a mink control network across ‘their area’ using ‘smart’ mink traps monitored by volunteers. The project will use adaptive management techniques to maximise efficiency; the ‘best practice’ for humane mink trapping developed to date is detailed on the WRT website. The post will be home-based, in a location that is appropriate for the objective. The Project Officer (PO) will be expected to use their own vehicle for travel and moving equipment but receive a mileage rate for doing so. Flexibility in working hours will be key; this is not a 9-5 weekday office job. Although POs will not be expected to exceed 40 hours a week on average, some weeks will be busier than others. At least a few minutes of web-based work will be needed every day, including at weekends, to support volunteers with any problems and to ensure that our work is always carried out to the highest animal welfare standards. All necessary training will be provided. *The Project Area is an area of some 8600 km2 (about 10.2 % of England) in an arc around Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire. It includes all or part of the counties of Essex, Greater London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Rutland, and Lincolnshire. How to apply More information on the Trust, the roles, and how to apply is available from our website.
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