Scottish Project update June 2015

The main aim of this project is to get more people involved in amphibian and reptile conservation in Scotland. Since the project began in 2013, ARC has been undertaking a wide range of activities to achieve this aim, including providing training and educational materials, advice on habitat management, support to local Amphibian and Reptile Groups (ARGs) and raising the profile of amphibians and reptiles in the media.

Attendees of ARC’s Symposium on Conserving Scotland’s Amphibians and Reptiles,
19th October 2014, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.

If you have a record of an amphibian or reptile in Scotland please enter it on www.recordpool.org.uk. The Record Pool website is a joint venture between ARC and the Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK). In addition to the interactive map on Record Pool, ARC is in the process of producing an atlas of Scottish records which will be published in a new book, The Amphibians and Reptiles of Scotland, in autumn 2015.

ARC has been providing volunteers with training in survey techniques and licence accreditation for rare species (great crested newts and natterjack toads). By increasing the level of monitoring in Scotland, we hope to gain a better idea of the distribution and population status of these species.

ARC has also been providing support to volunteers and students who have been working on Amphibians in Drains projects across Scotland. This project has been rapidly increasing in popularity, as the scale of this problem has become apparent.

Clearing reeds from a natterjack toad pond at Southerness, Kirkcudbrightshire.	Great crested newt survey trainees, 27th March 2015, Gartcosh, North Lanarkshire.

Several wildlife charities have been seeking advice from ARC on how to manage their sites more effectively for amphibians and reptiles, including RSPB Scotland, the John Muir Trust and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT). A collaborative project between ARC and the RSPB which received some media attention in 2014 (see: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-28703591) is continuing this year.

We would like to thank Scottish Natural Heritage and the Craignish Trust for financial support and Caledonian Conservation Ltd for hosting us in their new office near Stirling. If you have any queries relating to amphibian and reptile conservation in Scotland please contact Scottish Project Officer Pete Minting, who will be pleased to help.

Pete Minting:
e: [email protected]
m: 07747 270581

Scottish Project News!

Aug 2014 - Scotch mist and talking lizards - an update from ARC in Scotland (HopGossip! AW 2014)

Aug 2014 - Warts and all: Bid to save rare natterjack toads in Scotland (BBC News)

Dec 2013 - Fife ARG flocks to the Solway Firth (HopGossip! WS 2013-14)

Aug 2013 - Newt game snapped up in Edinburgh!

Aug 2013 - Snakes alive in Scotland? Appeal launched for records!