NFWAG Placement – Bea White

In July, I finished a year-long placement with Norfolk Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (NFWAG) as a part of my Environmental Land Management course at Harper Adams University. Part of the reason I decided to study at Harper Adams is because they ensure that every student has the opportunity to undertake a placement year as standard on their course, this integration of industry work into a degree is something I consider to be essential as it gives you more experience, opportunities to learn practically, and to get your feet wet (sometimes literally). I felt, and still feel, incredibly lucky that I was able to work with Norfolk FWAG for my placement year as I want to work in farm conservation consultancy once I’ve finished my studies.

I first started being interested in agricultural best practice and conservation habitat management in college; after completing a college placement undertaking practical conservation management and then doing a gap year in agriculture, I wanted to find a way to marry the two together – this led me to a placement with Norfolk FWAG. Norfolk Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (NFWAG) is an independent advisory group who support farmers and landowners in regaining and restoring balance between productive farming and nature conservation. As they are focused on this balance of maintaining an agricultural output/the farming bottom line alongside introducing and supporting wildlife they are in a unique position of trust with farmers and landowners that other conservation charities may not be.

During my year I was involved in a multitude of tasks and activities encompassing a range of advisory, project, surveying, and outreach work. The team were incredibly supportive, from day one they were open and welcoming, treating me as an equal and a valued member of the team and encouraging me to learn and do as much as possible in my time at NFWAG. Some of my favourite tasks included breeding bird surveys, woodland management plans, mapping using Landapp/QGIS software, and educational outreach. I’ve enjoyed being able to go on farm visits with the advisory team, it was a privilege to be able to sit with farmers/landowners and plan the future of their land with them.

My legacy at Norfolk FWAG has been setting up educational outreach with the next generation, I set up both a Youth Membership program and a partnership with the Norfolk Young Farmers which aim to support their farm conservation education and provide them with the most up to date information. I also secured funding for NFWAG to undertake teacher training so countryside education can be included in the primary school curriculum; NFWAG will have training days and provide resources to teachers, hopefully bridging the gap that students may have with accessing the countryside.

I’m disappointed to be leaving NFWAG as the team have been so excellent, kind, and supportive but I am looking forward to hearing more in the future about how NFWAG’s projects progress with updates/changes to policy. I greatly appreciated how the team valued me and my contributions throughout my placement, allowing me to implement educational aspects and become involved in ongoing projects. Many thanks to all of the team members and to the trustees for being so welcoming and supportive.