Today marks the end of the first week of the Ambios Spring Traineeship 2026. This place is quickly starting to feel like home. The Sharpham Estate is a breathtaking place, bursting with wildlife and landscapes that will only get greener and more beautiful as the weeks go on and we get further into spring. I’m already anticipating how much I’ll miss waking up to birdsong and the sun rising over rolling green hills when I leave, but there is plenty of time to savour it.
Today was also the spring equinox, and we started the day with a folk walk led by an Ambios alumni who attended last year’s spring traineeship. It felt magical, spending time reflecting, accompanied by beautiful music in such picturesque surroundings.
The first week has been a warm, gentle welcome into the busy ecosystem of Ambios. Personally, it’s the rewilding and the abundant wildlife that brought me here, but everyone has their unique reasons for coming here and hopes for what they’ll take away from it. There is a lot to be learned from being here; sustainable food systems, land and habitat management, monitoring and surveying, species identification, and advice and guidance for creating a career in nature for ourselves after we leave.
So far we have explored some of Ambios’ rewilding sites, had an intro to the key concepts of nature recovery, set up a moth trap and had a session identifying the species that we caught, and been given ample time to adjust to our new surroundings at our own pace and get to know the rest of the trainees and the staff and volunteers. Community is a huge part of the experience and the ethos of Ambios, and I feel very lucky to share my time here with such an incredible group.
The people here are perhaps most special part. The staff, volunteers, and fellow trainees all share an open mindedness, a welcoming spirit, and a desire to preserve, recover, and care for our natural world. There are a million ways to learn about nature recovery, but doing so in such an idyllic place, surrounded by nature and like-minded people feels incredibly special.
It can be an emotional subject. I have felt grief and anger, even in this first week, discussing the devastating impact humans have had on our world. It’s easy to let those emotions make you feel hopeless. But being among people who care enough to try and make a change buoys me, and reminds me that I have the power to do the same.
✍️Josie Bagley, Spring 2026 Nature Recovery Trainee
