A questionnaire was sent out in August 2023 to volunteers who had participated in a JNCC-funded scheme since 1 January 2022. Of the initial 9,150 emails sent, 5,836 were opened, 2,336 clicked the link and 2,054 responses to the questionnaire were received by 30 November 2023.

The majority of respondents were British men based in England, were retired, aged between 65–74, spoke English, did not possess a disability, long-term health condition, learning difference or impairment, their gender matched their sex at birth, they were heterosexual or straight, had no religion or belief, were educated to at least the level of an undergraduate degree, had not undertaken any relevant training, and had been involved in BTO-led schemes for five years or fewer.

The survey with the greatest number of participants was the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS; 36%), followed by BTO/RSPB/JNCC Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS; 26%), then the British and Irish Ringing Scheme and Nest Record Scheme (16% and 14%, respectively). England had the highest number of respondents to the questionnaire (1,548, 75%) and Northern Ireland had the lowest (36, 2%). The overall proportion of volunteers by country in 2022 is very similar to the percentage of respondents from each country (73% in England, 17% Scotland, 7% Wales, 3% in Northern Ireland), suggesting a lack of national bias in the probability of response.

Subsetting the data by country and scheme highlighted some interesting differences. More respondents were involved in the BTO/JNCC/NatureScot Goose and Swan Monitoring Programme (GSMP) in Scotland, more people in the 45–54 age category participated in the BTO/JNCC Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP) than in other surveys, and a greater diversity of ages was represented in the Ringing Scheme, with a higher percentage of respondents being full-time employed. The impacts of full-time engagement staff members being in post for longer periods were reflected in the responses to the training question.

At a UK level, none of the results presented in this report was particularly surprising, but it provides a vital baseline with which to assess the efficacy of future initiatives aimed at improving diversity across the BTO/JNCC volunteer surveys. The next steps outlined here include extending the survey to the wider suite of BTO schemes, contextualising results with independent data sources, developing a strategy that enables pragmatic decisions about initiatives that could help to increase diversity, rolling those initiatives out at a resolution (BTO-wide or survey-specific) that provides greatest impact and establishing mechanisms for ongoing data collection that allow us to monitor their efficacy. This development work will be overseen by the BTO working groups that have already being put in place to implement the priorities of the ‘Engaging Everyone’ and ‘Sustaining Supporters’ Action Areas of the BTO Strategy, including the ‘Becoming More Inclusive Working Group’, in liaison with other key stakeholders, such as the BTO’s Youth Advisory Panel.