As the new intern for the Scottish Seabird Centre, I’m quickly falling in love with the scenic ocean views of North Berwick, Scotland. Although the weather isn’t always clear, the views of the North Sea are stunning, rain or shine. The Centre, situated right on the harbor overlooking the sea is an award winning educational charity that centers around the local seabird populations and their efforts toward conservation of such inhabitants.

The Centre is built on a rich foundation of local volunteers and staff, dedicated to promoting sustainable living to ensure a vibrant and healthy ecosystem for the seabird populations. As a part of their mission, the Seabird Centre educates the public and thousands of tourists every year to raise money for the charity’s island clean-up projects, animal rescues/relocations, and continual work with Scottish parliament to maintain eco-friendly measures to reduce the effects of climate change on local populations and ecosystems.

Needless to say, I’m very excited to be a part of such a dedicated team. Something I’ve quickly come to learn from my time at the Centre is that a small group of people can make a huge difference in the lives of wildlife populations.

One of the projects that has immediate positive effects on puffin populations is SOS Puffin. The SOS Puffin team of volunteers works in cooperation with the Centre and goes out to the islands off of North Berwick to cut down and remove Tree Mallow from the soil. Tree Mallow is an invasive plant that was brought to the area hundreds of years ago, but has just recently began invading the outlying islands due to climate change. The plant covers the islands in its thick and fast growing vegetation, preventing puffins from returning to their burrows during breeding season and forcing them to relocate to areas where food is more scarce. Without the efforts of such volunteers, puffins could be forced out of their breeding grounds, resulting in declining populations.

Other dramatic effects can occur very quickly if not for volunteers and projects such as the ones that the Seabird Centre creates. Conservation area is vitally important to hold back the interference created by humans into wildlife habitat. If people were allowed to inhabit the islands, their presence could threaten the bird populations, which in turn directly affects the populations within the seabirds’ food chain, wreaking havoc in the ecosystem.

Simple things people take for granted everyday can have unexpected effects on birds and other wildlife populations. For instance, microbeads found in cleaners and packing material can end up in the water system and get flushed out into oceans, which birds mistake for food and eventually kill the birds from malnutrition. Even sustainability efforts such as wind farms, in the wrong locations, can pose a serious threat to large bird colonies as thousands of birds every year die from the blades on windmills. That is why it is important that knowledgeable wildlife organizations work with the public to live together without posing danger to the animals or their habitats.

Groups of volunteers in North Berwick and other areas of East Lothian are vital to protect conservation areas for local wildlife. Although the Centre and many other local wildlife attractions may be small at the moment, their efforts to educate the public and preserve habitat remain steadfast.

The Centre has given me the opportunity to not only take a look into my life and see how my actions affect wildlife, but also how I can get involved to support the Centre in their efforts to preserve such populations — along with some pretty stellar work experience!