Lending Our Natural World a Helping Hand

THE WILD SIDE

By Maria de Bruyn
Columnist

Non-profit organizations in Orange and Chatham Counties not only enable us to help our fellow town and county residents. There are also volunteer-run groups with whom we can contribute to conservation and protection of our natural environment.

Donating time and energy to the ongoing activities of such groups provides us with good reasons to get outside: we meet people with similar interests and concerns, our appreciation of the natural world grows, and we can contribute to preservation of our threatened animal and plant neighbors. Below are some groups with whom you might engage in the Hillsborough, Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Bynum areas. Also mentioned are some activities which you can do from the comfort of home while contributing to ongoing scientific research.

ReWild NC

One group working throughout the Triangle region is ReWild NC. Their lofty overall goal is “to make it as easy as possible for humans to help the non-humans in North Carolina, and by extension Planet Earth itself.” On a more practical level, their volunteers go into natural areas to first remove invasive plant species that are killing native vegetation, such as multiflora rose, buckthorn, thorny olive, trifoliate orange, and horned holly. Then when an area has been cleared, they plant and tend native species of trees and shrubs and periodically remove new invasives. The birds appreciate the fruit and seeds of native plants.

Top left: male house finch eating American beauty berries. Top right: male Northern cardinal eating beauty berries. These berries come from a popular native shrub. Bottom left: American redstart. Bottom center: magnolia warbler. Bottom right: yellow-billed cuckoo. All photos by ©Maria de Bruyn

ReWild’s early work focused on areas of Chapel Hill such as walking paths along Bolin Creek and Homestead Park. Since then, they have greatly expanded their scope and now work in numerous areas in collaboration with organizations such the North Carolina Botanical Garden, the Triangle Land Conservancy, and university groups.

Individuals can participate in their activities by signing up online on their “Upcoming Events” page. Gatherings are scheduled mornings and afternoons on both weekdays and weekends. The only thing a volunteer needs to do is wear clothing appropriate for pulling weeds and, if possible, some heavy gloves. ReWild provides loppers, shovels and other implements needed at each session.

For people who support ReWild’s goals but don’t have time to participate in group events, there is also an option for getting help with combating invasives in home yards or gardens. Hardy and difficult-to-eradicate plants like wisteria, kudzu, privet, multiflora rose, trifoliate orange, olive, bittersweet, Bradford pear, English ivy, mimosa, tree of heaven and paper mulberry grow in many of our towns’ neighborhoods. ReWild will provide easy-to-apply herbicide in a free-of-charge “dauber” that can be replaced when empty.

Triangle Land Conservancy

The Triangle Land Conservancy manages eight public nature preserves and has conserved more than 26,000 acres of land in our area. They have three options for people who would like to volunteer with them:

• The Conservation Corps works on tasks such as trail construction and maintenance, invasive species removal, basic construction and woodworking projects, general landscaping, and activities such as tending pollinator gardens.

• TriWild works on removal of invasive plants with ReWild NC.

• Trail Guides lead walks through preserves and will soon also have an option to become leaders of Kids Programs.

Orange County Volunteers

Orange County’s outdoor volunteer program offers people the opportunity to eradicate invasive plants and cultivate native plants in Hillsborough public spaces. Sessions usually take place for two hours on Wednesday afternoons and the third Saturday of the month. Volunteers can also help tend the Gold Park Pollinator Garden from 9-11 a.m. on the third Thursday of the month from March to October. In both cases, volunteers are asked to bring their own gardening tools.

This county also provides residents with opportunities to contribute to efforts that could limit climate change:

• Electric Vehicle (EV) ambassadors share their experiences with EVs and answer questions from people considering purchasing such cars.

• Repair Café coaches assist community members by repairing household items at scheduled Repair Café events.
• Outreach volunteers share information about sustainability measures at community events such as fairs.

Haw River Assembly

The Haw River Assembly is active in Chatham County promoting efforts to preserve the natural environment through a multitude of activities including:

• Conservation and restoration, including seasonal surveys of creeks and clean-ups, maintaining trash traps to remove litter, and stabilizing creek and riverbanks by planting native plants to prevent erosion;

• Conducting environmental education for children of various ages and their parents;

• Advocacy and community building through fairs, festivals, workshops and lobbying concerning important county and municipal bills and laws.

The Assembly’s Nature4All Diversity Series works to overcome barriers that have prevented black/brown and indigenous people of color (BIPOC) from participating equally in outdoor activities. So far in 2026, their birding, fishing and kayaking events included more than 60 people aged 5-65+ years (50-90% BIPOC) across the Haw River Watershed.

North Carolina Botanical Garden

The North Carolina Botanical Garden is part of the UNC system and has several volunteer opportunities available: the Green Dragons work at Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Parker Preserve and other areas to remove invasive plants and plant native vegetation. Seed processing volunteers clean seeds and package them weekly for various programs and purposes. The potting group transfers young seedlings, rooted stem cuttings and older plants into larger pots as they outgrow their containers.

Top left: common buckeye butterfly. Top center: Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly. Top right: variegated fritillary butterfly. Bottom left: clouded skipper butterfly. Bottom right: monarch butterfly. All photos by ©Maria de Bruyn

A few more nature-oriented voluntary groups that you can check out:

• Project Monarch follows individual monarch butterflies that have been tagged with solar transmitters. The detection network spans North America. You can follow the migration online and they are looking for people to help tag butterflies (the closest places where this has been done so far seem to be in Washington, D.C. and Georgia). You can also report a sighting of a tagged monarch through the Project Monarch app.

• Project Feeder Watch is run by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada between 1 November and 30 April each year. You count bird and mammal species coming to your yard or feeders, or another area such as a park, two days each week, contributing to ongoing data collection covering species diversity and numbers. An $18 fee covers website and database maintenance, data analysis, participant support, printing and shipping of project materials, and dissemination of information learned from FeederWatch data. These data have proved to be very valuable in detecting and explaining gradual changes in the wintering ranges of many avian species.

• Seek by INaturalist is a worldwide website and phone app that enables you to upload photos of animals and plants, which are then identified by a community of volunteers. You can suggest which species the creature or plant you have seen could be and then others confirm or change your identification. Your contribution then becomes open data that is used by scientists, conservationists, and researchers around the world.

• The Great Backyard Bird Count is open to anyone who is willing to count bird species for 15 minutes or longer during a four-day event. When your list is complete, you record your sightings online at birdcount.org. You can count several times during a day or on all four days and then see how many people participated worldwide when the event is over. The next count will be held February 12–15, 2027.

If you know of other nature-oriented non-profits that can use new followers/members, please leave a comment below. Have a great October!

Maria de Bruyn participates in nature-oriented citizen science projects and volunteers for the Orange County Senior Center. More of her photos are on Blue Sky (@mdb2024.bsky.social), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/bruynmariade) and in blogs (https://mybeautifulworldblog.com). This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocalReporter.press