UKs Overseas Territories

ARC’s new report on the amphibians and reptiles of UK’s Overseas Territories:

The “UK Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies and Sovereign Base Areas”are a number of small, self-governing territories and dependencies around the world, plus two large military training areas on Cyprus, that remain under the jurisdiction of the UK or the British Crown. Occurring in a wide range of regions and climatic zones, these “territories”include many different habitat types and, between them, support a remarkable wealth of biodiversity that includes a high proportion of endemic species –in many ways they are the jewels in the crown for the ‘UK’s wildlife’ and provide a huge addition to the number of amphibian and reptiles that are directly part of the UK’s conservation responsibilities. Fifteen of these territories support a total of 132 indigenous species (19 amphibian and 113 reptile).

With a view to helping herpetofauna conservation work in the territories, ARC has recently produced a report with a complete species inventory and overview of conservation and research priorities for the herpetofauna in these territories and this is now available on our website. Visit our web-page to find out more about the UK Overseas Territories and their amphibians and reptiles.

Report =http://www.arc-trust.org/europe/UKOT%20Herps%20Report%20-%20July%202010.pdf

Web-page =www.arc-trust.org/europe/

New Data Officer Appointed

My name is Andy Arnell. I am lucky enough to be working as the Newly Appointed GIS and Data Officer, in ARC’s Bournemouth offices, and as such I look forward to working with our surveyors and volunteers and pushing forward our various species monitoring projects. I hope to advance the modeling and mapping of species distribution, whilst maintaining our vast records database and contributing to the wider aims of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.

Like most people working in conservation I have always had a keen interest in the natural world. During my Zoology degree this became coupled with a fascination for Science. Since then I have had unforgettable experiences of studying animals in both Kenya and Thailand, but I have became increasingly aware that efforts need to be focused on conservation for future generations to be able to study these weird and wonderful species.

Recent advances in technology, such as the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), have helped produce more accurate species distribution maps and therefore focus conservation efforts. During my Primate Conservation Masters thesis I was fortunate enough to be able to focus on using this type of GIS software to model rare species distributions, including many smaller non-primate species. Since then I have developed a fascination with the conservation of these smaller species, such as amphibians and reptiles that often receive less attention than larger mammals and birds.

Prior to my current appointment with ARC I was living with my girlfriend who teaches art in an international school in Austria. When the opportunity to work for ARC in my ideal role came up, I had to make the tough decision to return to the UK. I am now carrying out a particularly long-distance relationship, but the fascinating nature of the job is at least easing the blow.

Meetings Dates

Some dates for your diary:

The programme for the ARG UK Southeast Regional Meeting (13 November, in Milton Keynes) has been finalised and is available from the ARG UK website www.arguk.org

Later in the month (27 November) ARG UK’s first Southwest Regional Meeting will be held at Draycott Memorial Hall, near Cheddar. Programme also available from the ARG UK website.

These regional meetings are open to all interested in amphibian and reptile conservation.

The ARC/BHS Joint Scientific Meeting, now an annual fixture, will be held on 5 December in Bournemouth. Programme details will be available shortly.

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

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...

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.

Biodiversity Still in Decline

No matter how many dedicated organisations like Amphibian and Reptile Conservation try to halt the decline of our native species and habitats, the decline continues. According to IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature) governments have failed to deliver commitments made in 2002 to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
There have been some successes including designation of protected areas and the recovery of particular species. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation has had its own successes with the re-introduction of the pool frog and translocation of the sand lizard.
To find out more go to: www.iucn.org/iyb/about/biodiversity_crisis/