Annual ARC-BHS Scientific Meeting - December 2011

The programme for the ever popular joint scientific meeting of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and the British Herpetological Society has now been finalised!

The meeting will take place on Sunday 4th December, from 9:30am to 5:00pm and will be held at the Bournemouth Natural History Society.

For more details and to register for the meeting please download the flyer here

Rare Sand Lizards Released Back to the Wild in England & Wales

During this week conservationists will be giving the UK's rarest lizard a helping hand, c.500 captive bred sand lizards will be released at 7 sites in England and Wales as part of a long-term conservation project to restore the species status and historic range.

Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (ARC), the Countryside Council for Wales and Natural England have teamed up to safeguard the future of these magnificent lizards. The lizards will be released at specially prepared nature reserves in Merseyside, west Wales, Surrey, Sussex and Dorset.

In the UK sand lizards only live on two rare habitats; sand-dune and lowland dry heath. Due to vast historic losses, and fragmentation of these habitats via development and land use change, the species has been lost from north and west Wales, Cheshire, Kent, Sussex, Berkshire, Hampshire, Devon and Cornwall. Native populations now only remain in Merseyside, Surrey, and Dorset -though even here losses of 97%, 95% and 90% have occurred respectively.

Due to these losses the sand lizard is now part of the UK's Biodiversity Action Plan. This has three main aims - protect the sites as nature reserves where the species occurs, to manage these sites to maintain and restore suitable conditions for sand lizards and, to re-introduce sand lizards to managed sites in their former historic range.

Currently there are ten captive breeding centres for sand lizards including Chester Zoo and Marwell Wildlife, New Forest Reptile Centre and Avon Heath Country Park These centres have outdoor enclosures that mimic the sand lizard's natural environment. From here, the captive bred juveniles are released on the re-introduction site in early September to allow the animals to gradually get used to the re-introduction site before hibernation in October.

Jonathan Webster, ARC Chair of Trustees said "We are delighted with the success of the sand lizard re-introduction programme. So far the partnerships have instigated 74 re-introductions to both dune and heathland sites in 12 vice-counties and restored the species to 7 of these. 80% of these have been successful or going well and more are planned for the future."

We have high hopes for this year's re-introductions as these large sites are well managed by our partners; Countryside Council for Wales, MoD, National Trust, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Bournemouth Borough Council, Waverley Borough Council. Ongoing surveys by trained site staff, volunteers and Amphibian & Reptile Groups of the UK will let us know how the species is doing in the long term, and when they start to colonise new areas.

If people want to find out more about our native amphibians and reptiles or can help with surveying and monitoring please contact us at the address' provided below.

Male Sand Lizards (ARC)

Released Juvenile Sand Lizards (ARC)

For further information contact:

Nick Moulton / Chris Davis, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation, 01202 391319, nick.moulton@arc-trust.org or iowarth@crislis.co.uk

Jim Foster, Natural England, 0300 060 1163, Jim.Foster@naturalengland.org.uk

Liz Howe, Countryside Council for Wales, 01248 387257, L.Howe@ccw.gov.uk

CLARE Project at The Mayor’s Thames Festival 2011

The Mayor’s Thames Festival is a huge free, outdoor arts festival that takes place along the banks of the River Thames each September. This multicultural event combines arts, music, dance, river races, carnival and foods of the world to celebrate the River Thames and London’s diverse communities and cultures.

ARC’s CLARE Project will be taking part in this fantastic event and will be situated in The Blue Ribbon Village. The village will be located on and around Potters Fields Park, by City Hall and on the riverside walkway. This area forms the Festival's environmental zone and features activities such as pond-dipping workshops, bee-keeping, colourful flags by artist Shona Watt, music from around the world, art workshops and storytelling, a bar and food stalls and much more!

Sophie our CLARE Project Officer will be on hand with information about our native amphibians and reptiles, animals on display and the chance to record local sightings and get involved in this exciting new project. So come along and meet some of the cities scaliest Londoners!

For more information about the CLARE Project and other upcoming events click here

For more information about the Mayor’s Thames Festival click here

Tadpoles from Bedfordshire used for Norfolk toad colony

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation has recently been involved in creating a new Natterjack toad colony in Norfolk. More than 800 tadpoles were taken from the RSPB nature reserve, the Lodge near Sandy in Bedfordshire and transferred to Norfolk Wildlife Trust's reserve at Grimston Warren. It is hoped that these tadpoles will become toadlets in the next few weeks. Read the BBC News article here

Job Opportunity with ARC based in Surrey

ARC is looking to appoint a Field Officer to help with our set of nature reserves in Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex. Based at the Surrey Office in Witley, the post is a full time, permanent position. Duties will include working as part of the small Surrey team working on our heathland reserves throughout the Weald. Experience and knowledge of heathland management is required, along with strong communication skills. A full Job Advert is available to download here. Further information on the Job Description and Person Spec is available here. Click here to download an application form or contact Helen Wraight on 01202 391319 or email helen.wraight@arc-trust.org to request an application pack. Closing date for applications is Tuesday 6th September 2011.

London Wildlife Trust's Green Picnic

We will be at Clissold Park in Hackney this Sunday 7^th August 1pm – 6pm for London Wildlife Trust’s (LWT's) Green Picnic as part of Hackney Carnival.

After the success of the CLARE launch event last Sunday (and thanks to those who came along) we will be bringing with us some more of London's snakes and lizards along with a large common toad and hopefully the UK's rarest snake: the smooth snake (not native to London and so a rare chance to see this lovely animal). We'll be taking down your amphibian and reptile sightings from around London once again so please come to the stand (inside the information tent in the middle of the park event).

There's loads of great things going on on the day including LWT's face painting, Animal Olympics, guided walks and bush craft - so don't miss out.

Details on the Green Picnic event and how to get there can be found on the LWT's events page: www.wildlondon.org.uk

Sophie Hinton

CLARE Project Officer

Consultancy Services Manager wanted

ARC is looking to appoint a Consultancy Services Manager to help plan, establish and then manage a new consultancy business for the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust.

This is a new role with the intention of providing consultancy services in amphibian and reptile species management to further the conservation of the species concerned. The role will provide the lead in establishing a separate trading company through which the business services will be developed whilst working closely with the charity.

If you would like to apply for this post then please contact Helen Wraight on 01202 391319 or email helen.wraight@arc-trust.org for an application pack. Further details can be found on the website www.arc-trust.org (see Latest News on the Home page). Closing date for applications is 1pm on Monday 25th July 2011 and interviews will be held on Friday 5th August 2011.