Friday 23 July 2010

New Newt Ponds in Herefordshire

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation is delighted to provide funding towards Herefordshire Amphibian and Reptile Team’s (HART) pond creation project in Brockhall Quarry. The location, in Stretton Sugwas, Herefordshire, is a former sand and gravel quarry, on Duchy of Cornwall land, which has been restored as a site for wildlife. Great crested newts are already present, but in a pond that is being overgrown with bulrushes and which may eventually dry out through succession. HART’s project has created three new ponds nearby, to increase the extent and quality of breeding habitat for this Biodiversity Action Plan species.

Will Watson, HART’s project leader, said ‘We’ve taken care to create ideal wildlife ponds. We’ve put in three ponds, rather than a single one, as pond clusters offer greater scope for wildlife. There are two large ponds and a smaller one. They all have gently sloping sides and irregular shapes, to maximise the number of aquatic microhabitats. We have even been able to install dragonfly basking beaches, using pea gravel from the former quarry workings. We will continue to monitor the site in future to check on the newts, but we fully expect them to colonise the new ponds.’

John Baker of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation added, ‘This is a great example of partnership working. Herefordshire Amphibian and Reptile Team has worked with the Duchy of Cornwall to produce a model amphibian conservation project. The Duchy of Cornwall has financially supported the project, but the pond creation funds have been topped up by Amphibian and Reptile Conservation’s Great Crested Newt Conservation fund and the Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK’s 100% Fund.’

Guidance and an application form for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation’s Great Crested Newt Conservation Grants are available on the ARC website.

For further information about ARG UK go to www.arguk.org

Thursday 15 July 2010

ARC Latest News

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation launched its snake campaign 'Sliding Scales' at the BBC Springwatch event in Southampton on 31 May. Since the launch the campaign website has received over 400 records of snakes from the UK public in one month!

The latest herpetological research shows that snake populations could be following amphibians and lizards down a path to global declines. Further research is urgently needed to understand what is happening.

ARC is asking people to send in snake sloughs (shed skins) that they find in the UK

To find out more, report your sightings and how to send us snake sloughs click here


Amphibian and Reptile Conservation has joined forces with England's conservation organisations and has issued an unprecedented warning about what the future would hold should the Government slash spending on conservation. Read more...


Hundreds of ponds funded by Biffaward. Read more...

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Job Vacancy for a GIS and Data Entry officer

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation is looking to recruit a GIS & Data Officer, with good GIS mapping skills, to help carry out its species status assessments, assist with management of data structures and maintain volunteer records. To start as soon as possible.

A detailed Job Description can be found here and an Application Form here.

Opportunities to gain employment in amphibian and reptile conservation are few and far between so make sure you grab this opportunity to work with ARC - the UK's leading charity in this field.