Sand Dunes

The coastal sand dunes provide one of the best habitats in Britain for the natterjack toad. Natterjacks need warm water in which to breed and they find this in the shallow pools, or slacks, that form between the successive ridges of sand dune systems.

The sand lizard also inhabits this warm sandy habitat but the dune populations are now restricted to a handful of small colonies on the Merseyside coast.

This specialised habitat needs careful management, particularly the control of invasive scrub. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation undertakes such management and co-ordinates regular monitoring to maintain a complete record of the acutely vulnerable populations of these two threatened species.