My name is Axel. I’m currently in year 12 at Esher Sixth Form college and am studying Maths Biology and Chemistry for my A-levels. My hobbies include running, rock climbing and going to the gym. I also enjoy going hiking and camping in different areas of the UK during holidays.

After I have finished my A-levels I am going to take a gap year to travel and volunteer at conservation projects abroad. After this I am hoping to go to university and study for a natural sciences degree. Eventually, I would like my job to be related to conserving areas of natural habitat that have high levels of biodiversity.

I chose to volunteer for Citizen Zoo as I think their work is vital for protecting the natural spaces where I live and for reintroducing native species into London and other urban areas. This is important for increasing biodiversity around the UK and gives people green space for fitness and leisure which will improve the health of everyone in the area.

My interest in conservation came from spending time in Richmond Park and seeing how important green areas are for the animals that live there and the people that visit them. I was also inspired by different national parks around the UK which often have miles of undisturbed natural land which gives a large habitat for thousands of native plants and animals.

On the first day, I went to paradise fields where I helped build dead hedges Pia and Digby, two of citizen zoo’s urban rewilding officers, and the volunteers. This helps to protect areas used by the beavers living there. After this, I reinforced the riverbanks at the inflow to reduce erosion and improve the water flow into the area. We were also given a tour of the site to see how the area had changed since the beavers had been introduced. On the second day I looked at camera trap footage to see what species were present in an area including the presence of water voles and their predators, such as American Mink. In the afternoon, I helped Elliot Newton teach a group of children about the importance of otters.

To inspire people my age to volunteer, tours of rewilded areas should be given to show the positive impact rewilding has on the area and how each person can make a difference to improve their local area.

While volunteering, I was surprised to see how quickly an area can recover in the right conditions. Paradise fields was unrecognisable to when the project began 2 years ago.

I enjoyed my time volunteering and look forward to working with Citizen Zoo again soon.