Clean-up & Conservation Team

The conservation team goes out between 3-6 times a week and volunteers can pick and chose which tasks they join in with depending on its location, the type of task they are interested in and individual availability.  

Tasks tend to be half-days and we try to offer something downstream, upstream and in the middle of the river every week.  There are different tasks that need to be done on the river depending on the time of year.  

River clean-ups, path maintenance and gardening are very popular and are done all year round.   In spring and summer, we are managing invasive plants (Himalayan Balsam and Giant Hogweed). In autumn we are cutting, raking meadows and planting bulbs, plugs, seeds and managing Japanese Knotweed.  In winter we maintain any willow structures, plant trees, stop the walkway from puddling and prevent build-ups of mud.

Tasks are always good fun and often exciting as we provide waders, grappling hooks, use boats and a variety of hand tools.  We provide all protective equipment, tools and equipment.  All tasks come with a full health and safety briefing and tool talk.  Where necessary, training is provided. 

We have a volunteer survey team to help us monitor the wildlife and check that our conservation efforts are increasing biodiversity.  All our tasks are working towards our goals and objectives in the Water of Leith Management Plan.

Registration Sign-up Details

We ask anyone interested in volunteering in any of the roles available to download our Volunteer Pack and to send us their registration details via the button below.  We have limited capacity for new Visitor Centre Volunteers at the moment, so it might take a while to get back to you. River and Conservation Volunteering is CLOSED to new applicants until April

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