Thursday, 7 August

Learn to identify & biologically record otters!

Join us for a crash course on how to start spotting, surveying, recording, and submitting information about otters to national databases.

By The Community Ecology Movement & Catkin Ecology

Date and time

Location

Online

Refund Policy

Refunds up to 7 days before event.

About this event

Event lasts 1 hour 30 minutes

Otters - how to spot them, and survey them

This webinar is your chance to discover the incredible biodiversity in your backyard or local area - this time, otters! Whether you're an individual wanting to learn how to identify otters signs, or a community wanting to protect an area of land where you believe otters reside, this online workshop is for you. Biological records are critical in maintaining and restoring species and habitats - they help safeguard them from potential threats like development or other land management activities. Yet so much of UK wildlife is under recorded. We'll cover what you need to know to carry out an amateur ecological survey of otters – you’ll learn why otters are important, what benefits they bring to nature and humans, and how to identify them (footprints, couches, holts). Finally, you'll learn the best way to upload your findings to national databases, so they are lodged forever - to make your findings count! Plus, you’ll explore options for further online or face-to-face training to deepen your skills.

What you’ll learn:

What is a ‘protected’ species or habitat? Why protected species matter and how to identify them.

All about otters - Why otters are important, their behaviour, their status in Scotland, and how to identify them using signs in the environment

How to record your observations - How to submit your findings to national databases and professional wildlife or plant life organizations.

Join The Community Ecology Movement and Catkin Ecology and be part of the action to safeguard our natural world. Register now and take the first step toward making a real difference!

Facilitated by : Janine Finlay, Community-based Ecological Surveyor in Scotland and all round nature lover! And Innes Manders, an ecologist with experience delivering protected species surveys, and a passion for the plants and habitats of the Scottish Highlands. Both Janine & Innes are looking forward to sharing all they know about this important protected species.

To find out more about us visit:

https://catkinecology.co.uk

https://communityecology.co.uk

Frequently asked questions

Why are the tickets on a sliding scale / different prices?

We believe citizen science training should be available to everyone. What's important to us, is that the wonderful species we have living amongst us are recorded and lodged in databases forever. Please therefore pay what you can afford - a high price ticket gives a place to someone on a lower income

Do you facilitate training in person?

Yes we do on the ground trainings - but we are trying online to share learnings with more than just our local neighbourhood. If you'd like an on the ground face to face training in biological recording, or anything else of relevance, please get in touch, via eventbrite, or our websites.

If I can't attend the event, will there be an online recording?

Yes there will be a recording made available after the live event.

If I don't want to attend the event, can I support you in any other way?

Yes you can make a donation of your choice in the tickets section! We love the idea of sustainable giving - whatever you can share will allow us to share our work with more people, to help us protect more species on the ground. Just let us know afterward if you intend to attend the event or not.

Will you be running events on species other than just otters?

Yes we plan to offer information and events on other species we have knowledge about in the future - such as bats!

Organised by

The Community Ecology Movement & Catkin Ecology

The Community Ecology Movement - The Community Ecology Movement was founded to solve a challenge many individuals and communities face: wanting to preserve important species and protect land, but not knowing how or where to start. Inspired by her own journey - learning through trial, error, and academic study - our founder developed practical methods to survey, document, and safeguard the animals and plants in her local environment. This initiative aims to share these hard-earned lessons to empower others to become citizen scientists.

Catkin Ecology - Ecological consultants for nature conservation, research and restoration projects. Catkin Ecology are a small ecological consultancy and seed collection business based in Argyll and the Trossachs, but working across Scotland. In addition to delivering a range of botanical surveys, they have combined their motivation to protect Scotland’s native fauna, with their core focus on nature restoration, by delivering surveys of protected species (including otter) for peatland restoration projects.

To find out more about us visit: