WRCO trains BASIC oiled wildlife responders

Twelve volunteers from five European countries received their EUROWA BASIC Oiled wildlife response qualification recently when they successfully completed the course at the Wildlife Rescue Centre Ostend (WRCO) in Belgium.

The course, delivered by qualified EUROWA trainers Isabelle Allemeersch and Laure de Smet, both WRCO staff, took place on 12th May .

The EUROWA BASIC course is aimed at people with no previous experience in oiled wildlife response, to provide basic first-aid to oil affected wildlife until expert responders arrive. The WRCO has run the BASIC course every year since 2016, but this time the course had a very international flavour, with volunteers from Spain, Romania, Belgium, France and Poland successfully completing the course.

The WRCO benefits from having an important part of their volunteer workforce provided through the European Solidarity Corps, an EU funded programme which creates opportunities for young people throughout the EU to serve as volunteers on community projects . WRCO aims to train all these volunteers at BASIC level, since many do not have easy access to rehabilitation centres in their own countries.

The EUROWA BASIC course (and its predecessor the POSOW oiled wildlife course) have now been delivered in 15 countries to more than 600 people. If you are interested in attending a EUROWA oiled wildlife responder course or organising a course in your country, please contact your national EUROWA network member or the EUROWA Secretariat.