AUDREY Compton, creator of the Teignbridge Wildlife Warden Scheme, has won BBC Radio Devon’s ‘Make a Difference’ Environment Award 2022. The award is one of eight made by the radio station to celebrate people who go “above and beyond” to make a difference in their communities.

The award presentations took place on 20th October at Crealy Park near Exeter in front of an audience of 200 volunteers and friends of the winners. Audrey attended with her husband John, Kate Benham, Chair of Action on Climate in Teignbridge (ACT) and Shira Rub, a Teignbridge Wildlife Warden.

Audrey, a Teign Valley farmer and environmental activist, won the Environment Award in recognition of her hard work in establishing the Wildlife Warden Scheme under the umbrella of Action on Climate in Teignbridge (ACT).

The scheme was set up in the autumn of 2020 with the aim of finding volunteers in each of the 53 Teignbridge parishes keen to help wildlife survive and thrive in their communities.

There are now 94 Wildlife Wardens working in 37 parishes. On receiving her award, Audrey said: ‘I live and breathe wildlife but I also love people too and it’s a great joy to work with volunteers.

‘Working with other people and learning from them, as well as sharing our knowledge, that’s what gives me hope for the future and keeps me going.

‘I feel the award is for the whole wildlife warden team as we all support each other and the scheme has been so rewarding.’

Audrey works with young local ecologist Flavio Winkler Ford, having sourced funding to appoint him as part-time Coordinator for the scheme. Together they have developed a format for wildlife volunteers that works well and has proved popular, perhaps because it provides lots of opportunities to make friends and share ideas.

The training and support they provide covers topics from health and safety to species recognition and the ecological surveying of wildlife sites.

Wardens work on a variety of projects, depending on what interests them. Some write for their parish magazines and other media on wildlife gardening and similar topics; some monitor streams and rivers to assess water quality; some have been trained by the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre to survey possible County Wildlife Sites, aiming to protect valuable habitats from development.

Planting hedges, establishing wildflower verges, and responding to planning applications are also on the list of activities.

Audrey said: ‘This award’s recognition of the scheme’s achievements has delighted the Wildlife Wardens, who feel proud and even more motivated to continue the work they love.’

► If you are interested in joining ACT and/or being a Wildlife Warden you can find more information on actionclimateteignbridge. org or email [email protected]