Richard Vowles – King Fisher

Steve Mahy – Dung Cannon Fungus

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At La Société Guernesiaise, we’ve spent more than a hundred years studying, protecting and celebrating the natural heritage of Guernsey. From Archaeology and Botany to Marine Biology, Astronomy, Bats, Birds, Family History, Historic Buildings and beyond, our specialists have been at the heart of the island’s scientific and educational landscape.

Now we’re opening that expertise up to the business community with a brand‑new Corporate Partnership Programme. It’s designed to give companies a hands‑on, meaningful way to support island conservation while providing their staff with unforgettable outdoor learning experiences.

EY Channel Islands CSR Day, July 2025

Why a Corporate Partnership?

Many organisations today are looking for tangible CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) projects that go beyond a cheque‑box exercise. They want something that:

• Delivers measurable environmental benefit – direct involvement in habitat restoration, wildlife monitoring and species protection.
• Engages employees – team‑building outings that combine adventure with learning.
• Boosts brand visibility – recognition on our website, newsletters and social channels.

Our new programme checks all those boxes, and it does so in a way that fits each company’s interests and schedule.

What Partners Get

Each corporate partner receives a four‑event package per year that we tailor to your team’s goals. Here’s what’s included:

Corporate Partners Receive:

• Four CSR events each year, planned around a company’s interests and capacity
• Social media and membership recognition for each event
• Access to La Société publications and resources
• Logo placement on website and selected partnership materials,including the newsletter

CSR Activities Include:

• Wildlife Surveys (including Rockpooling and Dolphin Watching)
• Bespoke wildlife tours (including meeting the Conservation Herd)
• Lunch and learn sessions with conservation experts

“Many businesses are looking for practical ways to make a positive impact,” says Becky Ogier, Education and Conservation Lead at La Société Guernesiaise. “This programme gives them the opportunity to contribute directly to local conservation while offering valuable, educational experiences for their teams.”

An annual membership of £2,000 covers the entire four‑event package and directly funds our Education and Conservation Team. That contribution also helps us purchase essential tools, develop new educational resources, and plan long‑term projects with confidence.

Ready to Join?

If you’re interested in turning your CSR objectives into real‑world conservation work, we’d love to hear from you.

• Learn more: https://societe.org.gg/wp/corporate
• Contact Becky Ogier: ecl@societe.org.gg

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The past few weeks have seen a flurry of activity from our Education Team, with fantastic support from corporate volunteers getting stuck into conservation work across the island.

We had a fabulous double whammy from EY Channel Islands, who tackled the bracken at Vale Pond, clearing the view from the bird hide. Birdwatchers and wildlife photographers will be pleased to know the kingfisher’s favourite perch is now visible again! The team then moved on to Bordeaux for an afternoon beach clean, ably assisted by six-year-old Nathan from Amherst School – proof that you’re never too young to make a difference.

Next up, Partners Group brought serious energy to Rousse, collecting several bags of rubbish, including rusty nails and even a razor blade – items nobody wants to find underfoot at the beach. 

Then came a sunny Friday afternoon at Belle Greve Bay with Moore Stephens Channel Islands, where we carried out a crab survey in the shallows. The team found over sixty specimens and did a brilliant job recording their vital stats – excellent science, sunshine, and company!

Over at La Garenne, a big thank you goes to Investec Bank (Channel Islands) Ltd, who helped rake a large area—despite the heat, a change of plan, and the scale of the task. Their positive attitude made all the difference.

And finally, our most recent Coastal Clean-Up took place yesterday at Port Soif with the terrific team from Apex Group Ltd, who collected four full bags of rubbish, carefully sorted into recyclables and non-recyclables. We’ve started rebranding our beach cleans as Coastal Clean-Ups to reflect the fact that we don’t just clean the shoreline—we take care of the surrounding commons, car parks, and kiosk areas too.

Huge thanks to every volunteer who’s helped us protect Guernsey’s wild spaces. Your time, effort and energy make a real difference.

#education #conservation #CSR #coastalcleanup

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Here are a few highlights from the BEEP 2024 escapades A very big thank you to all our project partners, volunteers, interested groups and members of the public who helped record eelgrass across our islands and supported our project

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Nature Guernsey Report – Autumn 2024

Following the three events reported on in the last Communiqué, the next Nature Guernsey outing was planned to coincide with National Insect Week. This took the form of a Bug Hunt which was organised in conjunction with the Entomology Section, and held at Bordeaux Mound on Saturday, June 22nd. It was a lovely, sunny afternoon and lots of really engaged children, armed with pots and nets, found all manner of things for our volunteers to identify – butterflies, ladybirds, lacewings, spiders, you name it, they found it. We also sneaked in some moths caught overnight in the garden of a volunteer who lives close to Bordeaux.

Nature Guernsey Bug Hunt. Photo courtesy of Emma Boughey.

One young man potted a cricket which he showed to two members of Entomology Section. Something about the specimen seemed different and so it was kept to be photographed. Research by our local entomologists identified this as a Brown-spotted Bush Cricket, a species they were unfamiliar with.

On sending a photograph to the British Orthoptera Society, confirmation of the identification was received. The cricket is a new species not just for Guernsey or even the Channel Islands, but also unrecorded in Britain! Quite a coup! This is not the first time a Nature Guernsey event has turned up an interesting and unusual creature, showing that they are not only encouraging children to actively engage with nature, but are adding to the island’s database.

On Wednesday, August 28th, Nature Guernsey, this time in conjunction with the Bat Section, organised an evening walk at Saumarez Park. As always, this was an extremely popular event and we were delighted that so many members of the public came to find out more about our natural world. The evening started with a fascinating introductory talk ‘Bats are Brilliant’ which contained information on the species we have in the Bailiwick, why they are important and how we can help to protect them. Bat detectors were then handed out and as we walked around the park, we could both hear and see bats, who came out a short time after sunset and put on a marvellous display for our enjoyment.

 

Nature Guernsey Bat Walk. Photo courtesy of the Bat Section.

Our final event of the year was the ‘Late Summer Family Event’ held on Sunday September 1st at La Société’s land at Pleinmont. As usual, the first activity of the day was to be moth trap emptying, and Entomology Section was delighted to be joined by three ‘moth-ers’ from the UK who also set their traps overnight at Pleinmont, excited to see which species might be found in this coastal habitat, quite different from their normal trapping areas.

Early Sunday morning, the traps were collected from the various overnight positions and brought to the gazebos for checking and recording. Unfortunately, although the (very!) early morning had been dry, rain began to fall. To continue or cancel – this is always one of the most difficult decisions to make. On studying the weather radar, it was decided that the rain was moving through quite quickly and the event should go ahead as planned. Although the rain did not stop quite as soon as we would have liked, the gazebos provided shelter for the moth trap emptying to begin, and there were indeed some interesting finds including three species of hawk-moth, with a Death’s-head Hawk-moth, being the most unusual. This is a spectacular beast, and was new to many people!

Privet Hawk-Moth. Photo courtesy of Emma Boughey.

Nature Guernsey was delighted to be gifted ‘moth tent’ by the visiting ‘moth-ers’. In reality, a mosquito tent, using it allows trap to be opened without the moths flying away before being identified, but also meant our younger visitors could ‘get up close and personal’ with many species, and it was extremely popular.

As the weather improved, we were gradually able to set up all the other activities and were delighted that many people had not been put off but came along to join us.

La Société’s Education/Conservation officers were on hand to help with making collages and colouring activities while keeping an eye on the bird identification game, which proved to be quite a challenge!

The Bug Hunt was as popular as always with a good variety of invertebrates spotted in the ‘weedy strip’ sown with a wildlife crop. These included Field Grasshoppers, Great Green Bush Crickets, Earwigs and various butterflies.

Bird ringing continued throughout the morning, and although hopes were not high for this weather-dependent activity, a steady trickle of birds were caught, including Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Dunnock, Wren and Whitethroat. This latter species was especially interesting, as it was on passage to its wintering grounds in Africa. All birds were ringed, winged and weighed, before being released unharmed.

Bat Section’s display attracted a lot of interest with youngsters keen to try out the ‘Bat Sounds Board’ which contains information about all the species found in the Bailiwick and allows us to listen to their Echolocation calls. (‘Seeing with Sound’ beyond the range of human hearing).

As well as the usual activities, we were delighted to welcome the two youngest members of the Conservation Herd, who were a popular addition to the event, and seemed unfazed by all the attention!

During the morning, prizes were presented to the winners of the competition we ran at the West Show, when entrants were asked to guess the number of bird species recorded in Guernsey since records began. The answer, up to the end of 2023, is an impressive 333. While no one had exactly the right answer we had some very near guesses and congratulations go to the winners in the different age categories.

The prizes were given out by La Société’s President, who is a knowledgeable birder and bird ringer.

As always, I cannot finish this report without saying thank you to all the volunteers who give so freely of their time, so that these events can go ahead. Enthusing the younger generation, and instilling in them a love of nature, is an important tool in ensuring that the natural world is protected in the future.

Lesley Bourgaize – Chairperson – Nature Guernsey

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Congratulations to Chrissie Johns who won our 2024 Photographic Cometition. Her photo is of a Short-eared Owl after a successful hunt, showing it in rough grassland, which both ‘Shorties’ and Barn Owls need in order to thrive.Congratulations to Chrissie Johns who won our 2024 Photographic Cometition. Her photo is of a Short-eared Owl after a successful hunt, showing it in rough grassland, which both ‘Shorties’ and Barn Owls need in order to thrive.

Congratulations to Chrissie Johns who won our 2024 Photographic Cometition. Her photo is of a Short-eared Owl after a successful hunt, showing it in rough grassland, which both ‘Shorties’ and Barn Owls need in order to thrive.

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Throughout January, islanders spotted a remarkable range of marine and terrestrial life across the Bailiwick of Guernsey—from a Humpback Whale off Alderney to Bottlenose Dolphins cruising our coasts, and Avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta) at the Colin Best Nature Reserve. Each sighting helps us better understand and protect our island’s incredible biodiversity.

Thank you for sharing your January sightings—keep them coming!

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It’s Bat Week, a week to celebrate the role of bats in nature.

Bat Week is an international celebration designed to highlight the importance of bats and the ongoing conservation efforts needed to protect these incredible creatures.

Held from 24th to 31st October we will be posting some information about our bats this week.
Bats are keystone species, this means they have an important role in keeping the ecosystem in balance. If bat populations reduce all other plants and animals in the ecosystem will suffer along with humans.

The Common Pipistrelle is the most abundant bat species in the Bailiwick. The common pipistrelle bat is very small weighing around 5 grams which is the same as a 20p piece. Despite their size however, a single pipistrelle can eat 3,000 tiny insects in just one night!

 

The Guernsey Bat Group will be leading a Guided Bat Walk on Sunday 27th October at Saumarez Park, from 5.15pm.

 

Please check their facebook page for updates.

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