Conservation

Ealing Wildlife Group & beyond…

Sean set up a local wildlife conservation group in Ealing, West London back in 2016 when he moved from the demands of clinical veterinary practice into an industry vet role. This gave him back some free time and a better work life balance to revisit his true passion in life, protecting and advocating for nature and wildlife.

Conservation has been in his blood all his life with various voluntary roles and membership of organisations including RSPB, Birdwatch Ireland, The Mammal Society, Essex Wildlife Trust and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT).

On this page you can see some of the projects Ealing Wildlife Group (EWG) have been working on. Sean is also in the early stages of planning a large scale future farm rewilding project, AgRewild.  

Visit Ealing Wildlife Group

Boles Meadow Bat Habitat Project

One of EWG’s first conservation projects was to transform a neglected space in the Brent River Park back to a diverse habitat for bats and other biodiversity. You can read more about the project here and watch the video of one of our popular volunteer days below.

Boles Meadow BioBlitz

Each summer we hold a public BioBlitz, asking the public to come join us at our unofficial nature reserve to record as many species of plants and animals as they can. It’s a great day, from morning to night engaging the community with nature conservation and biodiversity.

Great Crested Newt conservation

Ealing has a small but thriving population of Great Crested Newts, one of Britain’s largest amphibians and a European threatened species. Their habitat needs managing to ensure it remains suitable for them. Together with other local groups EWG organises volunteer task days and licensed surveys to protect these special creatures. 

Sean & Chris Packham chat community conservation

Sean meets Chris Packham to discuss engaging local communities in wildlife conservation, as well as a bit of healthy banter about who has the best raptors on their doorstep!

local conservation policy

Sean has been enlisted to get involved in various wildlife initiatives or forums safeguarding our local natural heritage, biodiversity and green spaces. He’s currently helping draft Species Action Plans to steer land management for priority wildlife species in London Borough of Ealing’s revised Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). 

In the featured photo Sean is meeting one of his idols Sir David Attenborough at the launch of Richmond and Twickenham’s BAP, where he also won a place in their wildlife photography competition. 


A crowdfunded new nature reserve!

EWG have recently been successful in raising funds to transform a derelict allotments site prone to flooding into a brand new community nature reserve.

Thinking Global, Acting Local

Sean was recently invited to speak on a webinar by Investors in the Environment, speaking alongside Dr Peter Brotherton, Director of Science and Climate Change at Natural England. Sean’s talk starts around the 22 minute mark.