A GROUP of young leaders are being trained to help reverse the decline of the region’s threatened wildlife.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is providing 24 people with a 12 month placement to provide them with the skills to carve out a future career in the green economy.

They are all taking part in the Tomorrow’s Natural Leaders initiative for 16 to 24-year-olds. The local wildlife charity will help them to become environmental champions and inspire their peers and local communities to take action on environmental projects.

Over five years close to 100 young adults are set to benefit from the experience.

The latest recruits will form five teams across Yorkshire carrying out a range of conservation work on Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s nature reserves, such as habitat restoration, wildlife surveys, events management, campaigning, outreach and education.

Six of this year’s cohort are based at Appleton Mill Farm, near Pickering.

Paul Thompson, project lead for North and East Yorkshire, said: “The first six months involves the teams working alongside trust staff to gain skills and experience in practical conservation, whilst the second half of their placement will be spent developing and delivering self-led environmental projects and campaigns.”

New recruit Lauren Darn said: “I am determined to devote my working life to protecting the environment, and I knew the best place to begin would be working throughout the Yorkshire countryside which I have known and loved since childhood. This placement will allow me to channel my creativity and love for the environment into a structured and worthwhile learning experience.”