The plan was to build eight boxes – four in Cudwell Meadow, Church Stretton, and four on the Long Mynd in south Shropshire, the group said.
“Once I have showed they are productive and they are a good effective means of getting mammal data, we can then look for more grants to try and raise a bit more money,” Edmunds said.
“Traditionally, it would be quite quite hard work [to get the data] as we would have to go out with groups of people looking for the field signs like their poo.
“It’s quite difficult to find a little tiny poo that’s the size of a tic-tac hidden in really thick vegetation.”
He said the “long-term aim over the next five years” is to work out where water voles are in the county, and work on protecting their habitats.