New recruits!

We would like to welcome two new recruits! Bill Shaw, our Cumbria Natterjack Officer and his girlfriend Hilary are celebrating the birth their beautiful twins. Orla Imogen and Seth Felix are both happy and healthy babies and their parents are thrilled to bits. We hope that they will follow in their fathers footsteps and be the next generation of natterjack sureyors!

Congratulations again Bill and Hilary!

Remember, remember the amphibians on the 5th of November!

The Royal Horticultural Society, The Wildlife Trusts and Amphibian and Reptile Conservation are asking organisers of bonfire night celebrations to look out for amphibians before they light their fires.

"People tend to check for hedgehogs in the wood they have gathered for their fire," says Andrew Halstead, Principal RHS Entomologist. "But it is equally likely that toads, frogs and newts will have found shelter in these piles and might be missed. Toads and frogs play an important role as predators in the garden and should be encouraged"


“Garden frogs, toads and newts can be very active at this time of year as they look to stock up on invertebrate prey for winter,” says Dr. John Wilkinson of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. “Although people may think of amphibians as creatures that occur only in the countryside, gardens are important refuges for many of them”.

Like hedgehogs, amphibians (frogs, toads and newts) seek out sheltered parts of gardens in the autumn weather to prepare for the cold winter. Unlit bonfires can be perfect because they offer protection from predators, and because they attract amphibian prey including woodlice, worms, spiders and beetles.

"Bonfire organisers can divert amphibians away from the bonfire site, and give them safe shelter, by having smaller log piles, or heaps of leaves, away from the main pile," says Morag Shuaib of The Wildlife Trusts. "And before lighting the re-built bonfire pile, it is a good idea to make a final check by torchlight, to make sure nothing has sneaked in."

So to keep our amphibians safe on November 5th by following these tips:

• Provide alternative safe hiding places by creating small log piles of heap of leave away from the main stack.
• Don’t build you bonfire until the day it will be lit.
  
• Make sure to check any pre-built bonfires thoroughly before lighting.

Remember, remember the amphibians on the 5th of November!

Thank you!

Herpetofauna Workers Meeting - 2012

Due to the increasing popularity of this annual event, we are delighted to announce that the Herpetofauna Workers’ Meeting 2012 will be held at the Telford International Centre (T.I.C.), Shropshire, Saturday 28th to Sunday 29th January. This venue is just three hours travel from the majority of the UK population so we are hoping that it will provide everybody an opportunity to attend!

We have a full and varied programme of presentations and updates from ARGs throughout the UK as well as workshops to suit all interests and to inspire anyone with an interest in herpetology for the season ahead. Everyone is welcome, from novices to students and volunteer surveyors to University Professors! There will also be an opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones at our Gala Dinner and social evening which includes the return of Britain’s premier herpetological quiz – ‘Have I got newts for you!’

For more information and to download a flyer, booking form and/or the provisional programme visit www.arc-trust.org/events/HWM.

Nick Baker at ARC/LWT/CLARE stand at WildlifeXpo

ARC, LARG, GiGL and London Wildlife Trust together as part of the CLARE project took the last of the season’s herps to the WildlifeXpo last weekend to raise awareness of the amphibians and reptiles who call the capital their home. We had a great variety of the city’s herps on display, including a large and beautiful grass snake which attracted many people’s attention including TV Naturalist Nick Baker (known for his love of herpetofauna). With over 2,000 visitors to the Xpo we’d like to say a big thank you to those who came along and gave us their sightings. They will be of enormous help in safeguarding a future for these fantastic animals in and around London...

Tell us your sightings online at www.arc-trust.org/CLARE

As the nights draw in...

At this time of year we still sometimes get occasional reports of reptiles and amphibians sightings – these range from lizards or snakes basking in the last of the autumn sun to frogs and toads out hunting for food on cool, damp evenings. In both cases, the animals are preparing for hibernation and don’t need any human help unless caught away from shelter during a very sudden cold snap. If this does happen, they will be very sluggish and can be gently moved to a nearby area that provides shelter – such as a clump of vegetation, log or rock pile. Britain’s herpetofauna is well-adapted to cope with even the coldest of winters but our autumn weather can sometimes catch them out – especially with our present very variable weather! When winter really kicks in ponds may freeze over. For more information about what to do when this happens visit the ARC frequently asked questions pages here

Good news in the fight against chytridiomycosis

A team of scientists from Cornell University, US, has taken a huge leap towards understanding why the fungal disease chytridiomycosis (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) has such devastating and fatal effects on some amphibian populations while others fight off the infection, remaining healthy.

The group have identified genetic factors that seem to make some individual frogs immune. These individuals have a genetic difference that can be traced back to regions of DNA that form part of the immune system called the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). This helps the body’s immune system identify foreign bodies (such as fungi or bacteria).

These findings could influence captive breeding programs around the world. The idea would be to screen amphibians' MHC genes before breeding, to increase the odds of producing Bd-resistant tadpoles, which in turn would produce a more resilient population.

Of course this is fantastic news for our vulnerable amphibians, but does not take away from the fact that much work is still needed to combat their greatest threat, habitat destruction. This is why organisations like ARC will continue with conservation projects across the UK and abroad.

See an article written by the BBC News for more details on this story >>>
Visit our website for more general information on amphibian disease >>>

The National Planning Policy Framework - is it all bad news for reptiles and amphibians?

‘Yes’ I hear many of you cry – and in essence that is the problem with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the Government’s new planning proposals for England. The headline messages are simply not strong enough in favour of conserving the natural environment and, partly as a consequence of this, the document reads like a developers’ charter. Emphasising as it does the need for a strong ‘pro-economic growth’ agenda’, the current wording threatens to jeopardise large areas of our countryside and many of the ‘brownfield’ sites (derelict/ former industrial land) that are so important for reptiles and amphibians.

There are, however, some principles within the NPPF that we at Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC), and others in Wildlife & Countryside Link, the NGO forum through which we do much of our campaigning work on Planning legislation and policy, do subscribe to. We support Sustainable Development (with the emphasis on Sustainable!), we see a benefit in a more proportionate and locally accountable planning system and we see value in a ‘plan led’ approach that can define conservation as well as socio-economic objectives for an area. The 58 page document is meant to be read and considered in its entirety – for those with the stamina to reach clause 163 there is a section on the Natural Environment and scattered through it are little nuggets that could give us hope, had we not been distracted by the less positive messages elsewhere.

ARC, through W&C Link, is actively campaigning to address some key over-riding issues, and in particular:

• the need for a clear and workable definition of sustainable development;
• that there should only be a presumption in favour of development that clearly accords with an appropriate definition of the term ‘sustainable development’; and
• clear links must be made between the NPPF and the Natural Environment White Paper.

The Prime Minister has recently made a personal intervention and has emphasised his commitment to safeguarding our countryside – but we also wish to see wildlife conserved throughout England and not just in our designated National Parks. For truly sustainable development to happen as a result of the NPPF, the whole document must reflect the fact that our long term economic growth relies on protecting and enhancing the environmental resources that underpin it, also paying due regard to social needs. Without this basis, the presumption for ‘sustainable development’ will simply be a licence for ‘sustained development’. The NPPF, as written, has rightly angered many environmental and local organisations and has sustained a barrage of criticism in the press. Let us hope that the Government is listening and takes this opportunity to create a planning system that delivers truly sustainable development - a thriving economy alongside flourishing wildlife. ARC will continue to campaign to try to make this happen.

The opportunity for Public comments continues until 17^th October (see http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningsystem/planningpolicy/planningpolicyframework/ we would encourage you to have your say).

Tony Gent

CEO