Volunteering at Island Nature Trust

If you prefer to contribute your time to planning and governance, we always appreciate the input of fellow conservationists to our board and committees. New board members are elected at our September Annual General Meeting. There are also a number of Committees that make recommendations to the board on matters related to policy, land management, land acquisition, investments and more. These committees are often a mix of board and non-board members of Island Nature Trust.

The Bennett is a fundraiser and a significant birding event taking place every Fall. Teams with four to six members gather pledges and head out in the wee hours of the morning to find as many species of birds as possible in one 24-hour period.

Young birders ages 5–12 are invited to join INT staff in a guided birding walk for the “youth Bennett” held on the same day.

First started in 1995 as the Autumn Birding Classic, it was and continues to be both a fundraiser and citizen science event. Shortly after Neil Bennett’s death in 2000, the event was renamed the Neil Bennett Autumn Birding Classic to celebrate his contributions to INT and Nature PEI. The event documents the species seen during autumn migration. The results are published in the Island Naturalist for researchers to help explore species change over the decades in PEI.

Submit your details below and we will alert you via email when registration for the coming year is open. Proceeds raised support conservation of natural areas on PEI.

Conservation Guardian volunteers are our eyes and ears on the ground in our natural areas. Their dedication is what keeps our stewardship mission alive.

With a small staff and nearly 100 natural areas across PEI, it can be challenging for us to monitor all of our properties on a regular basis. That’s why we rely on local volunteers to monitor our properties and report their observations to us.

Conservation Guardians report on human use and disturbance of natural areas, wildlife sightings, and rare and invasive species observed. Regular training events are offered to our volunteers to help them build and improve their plant and wildlife identification and other outdoor skills.

Our Land Stewardship team is responsible for training events that typically happen during the summer months when we can gather outside. Conservation Guardian volunteers are asked to commit to monitoring their natural area at least once per year but are encouraged to visit as often as they wish.

INT’s Piping Plover Guardian Program was initiated in the early 1990s by a handful of concerned volunteers. Since 1995, INT has been coordinating the program which monitors and protects piping plovers on provincial beaches. Piping Plover Guardians protect Endangered piping plovers from human disturbances, educate beach users on the plight of piping plovers, and monitor nests on the north and southeastern shores of PEI in the spring and summer.

Volunteers choose a plover beach they wish to monitor – often this is a beach they live close to or visit frequently. Volunteers visit their beach on a daily-weekly basis and report their observations back to us.

Volunteer Plover Guardians are given training on how to identify piping plovers and other shorebirds. Guardians learn how to minimize disturbance to the birds while monitoring, and how to provide an educational opportunity to beach users in a non-confrontational way.