Volunteers are increasingly involved in the delivery of nature conservation policies, usually supported by a twofold rationale: volunteering can (a) enhance citizen participation in environmental governance and (b) ensure a workforce is in place to support conservation work in times of budget shortages. Here, we ask how these two rationales correspond to volunteers' own motivations to engage in a specific nature conservation activity, namely the control of invasive alien species (IAS). We use qualitative interviews with professional project managers, local group leaders, and volunteers to examine the interactions between policies aiming to rationalise the management of IAS and the motivations for and goals of volunteer engagement. Our findings suggest that although volunteering can lead to positive conservation outcomes, satisfying experiences and empowerment, the different interests do not always align in practice. We investigate the implications of strategies that aim to improve the efficiency of invasive species and volunteer management, and discuss organisational arrangements that reconcile different objectives.

志愿者越来越多地参与制定自然保护政策，通常有双重理由支持：志愿者可以（a）增强公民对环境治理的参与，以及（b）确保在预算短缺时有劳动力支持自然保护工作。在这里，我们问这两个基本原理与志愿者自身从事特定自然保护活动（即控制外来入侵物种（IAS））的动机如何相对应。我们通过与专业项目经理，当地小组负责人和志愿者的定性访谈，来研究旨在合理化IAS管理的政策与志愿人员参与的动机和目标之间的相互作用。我们的发现表明，尽管志愿服务可以带来积极的保护成果，在满足经验和增强能力的过程中，不同的利益在实践中并不总是保持一致。我们调查旨在提高入侵物种和志愿者管理效率的策略的含义，并讨论协调不同目标的组织安排。