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Archives for June 2021

Work Experience Blog

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My name is Katie and I am thankful for having the opportunity to do my work experience at Froglife, the past few days have helped me to learn about both office and practical skills that I may need for future jobs. I have improved my knowledge of how to read and input data such as surveys, and I have also developed my communication skills by helping Briony to deliver sessions in schools.

Monday 21st June 2021: My first day working at Froglife was Monday and the first thing that I did was some office work where I sorted some session feedback. I then sat in a meeting about the conservation of great crested newts with a guest speaker. After that Briony and I headed to Nacro in Peterborough for our first session where they built and painted birdhouses and butterfly houses to put up in the garden. We then came back to the office where I looked through some of Froglife’s photos and created some social media posts.

Tuesday 22nd June 2021: On Tuesday morning I typed up some session feedback and then continued to create a few more social media posts. We then went to a primary school in Whittlesey for our second session of the week where the class were taught about the life cycle of a newt. We then went to the school’s outdoor area where they planted blackthorn tree saplings around the edge and then they built a hibernaculum near the woodland area. Afterwards, we came back to the office where I created a staff survey on survey monkey and then we went for a site visit at Nene Valley community centre before the end of the day.

Wednesday 23rd June 2021: today is my last day of work experience at Froglife and I have done some office work. First I typed up some survey data about reptile conservation into excel and then corrected any errors I made in the survey I created on Monday and then finally I have typed up this blog.

8 out of 13 amphibians and reptiles to lose protection.

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Protection lost for species including mountain hare, adder and pine marten. Protection under threat for 300+ other species including red squirrel and water vole.

30 conservation NGOs issue an open letter to oppose a review of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which could undermine decades of work to restore and protect threatened species.

What’s happened?

  • Every 5 years the species listed in Schedules 5 and 8 of the Countryside and Wildlife Act (1981) are reviewed through a process called the Quinquennial Review (QQR). These reviews are coordinated by the UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). 
  • Many of the species currently included in appendix 5 and 8 are there because experts have recommended their inclusion either due to persecution, population decline or other threats.
  • This year in a change from the normal process the QQR Review Group (consisting of JNCC and the three country nature conservation bodies; Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, NatureScot, and representatives of the non-governmental sector) has changed the eligibility criteria of species currently (and in future times) listed and therefore afforded protection by the Wildlife and Countryside Act. This change means that an animal or plant species will only be protected when it is in imminent danger of extinction as defined by the highest categories in the IUCN red listing process, or those identified as European Protected Species.  This decision has been made without due consultation and to date has not considered concerns raised by NGOs. 
  • Large numbers of species (although the exact figure has not been quantified in the Information Pack) will now no longer be protected against killing and sale by law including iconic and persecuted species such as the Mountain Hare and Adder.

What’s the problem?

  • Removal of protection will mean that these species will legally be allowed to be killed. This will enable building developments to take place with no consideration of the impacts on formerly protected species such as slow worms and water voles if a case cannot be made to keep them listed.  It also means that it will once again be legal to persecute adders, pine martens and mountain hares – despite all of the costly efforts to try and conserve these vulnerable species.
  • Removal of protection will mean it would become legal to trade wild-caught British species including amphibians and butterflies – which as well as directly causing population declines would also pose a huge biosecurity risk, since this could result in wild animals being moved around, and entering into captive collections alongside animals imported from elsewhere in the world. This is of particular concern for widespread amphibians that are at serious risk from Chytrid and Severe Perkinsea Infection which have wiped out populations of amphibians worldwide and have both been found in captive collections in the UK.
  • Whilst very valuable, the IUCN red listing process is not fit for this purpose. It is complex and requires high levels of evidence of population trends.  This in turn requires high level species surveys and analysis of the data to determine population trends at a national scale.  There has been no provision made as to how this will be resourced and an assumption that NGO’s will take on the burden of this work.  IUCN guidance specifically identifies automatic use of Red List categories in policy as an “inappropriate use” of the Red List; and the IUCN Red List category “Vulnerable” is a “Threatened” category, which means it is “facing a high risk of extinction in the wild”.
  • The changes that have been decided by the QQR Review Group remove the opportunity to prevent species decline. Under the changes outlined we will only be reacting to catastrophic species declines.

What do we want to do about it?

We are now calling for a public consultation on the decision to change the eligibility criteria (before proceeding with the planned timetable).

Open NGO letter responding to proposed changes to the eligibility criteria for the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981)

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28th June 2021

Dear JNCC, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and NatureScot,

Re: 7th Quinquennial Review (QQR) of Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981)

We are writing this open letter to you in response to the decision by the QQR Review Group (consisting of JNCC and the three country nature conservation bodies and representatives of the non-governmental sector) to change the eligibility criteria for which species will be included on Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. This change means that an animal or plant species will only be protected when it is in imminent danger of extinction as defined by the highest categories in the IUCN red listing process, or those identified as European Protected Species. This decision has been made without due consultation and to date has not considered concerns raised by NGOs. In fact the NGO’s that have raised concern about the changes have been told that the decision has been made and can’t be questioned. It also fails to consider the consequences of such changes to the eligibility criteria which would mean that large numbers of species will now no longer be protected against killing and sale by law. We have numerous serious concerns regarding this decision and the decision making process. These include but are not limited to:

• Removal of protection will mean that these species will legally be allowed to be killed. This will enable building developments to take place with no consideration of the impacts on formerly protected species such as slow worms and water voles if a case cannot be made to keep them listed. It also means that it will once again be legal to persecute adders, pine martens and mountain hares – despite all of the costly efforts to try and conserve these vulnerable species.

• Removal of protection will mean it would become legal to trade wild-caught British species including amphibians and butterflies – which as well as directly causing population declines would also pose a huge biosecurity risk, since this could result in wild animals being moved around, and entering into captive collections alongside animals imported from elsewhere in the world. This is of particular concern for widespread amphibians that are at serious risk from Chytrid and Severe Perkinsea Infection which have wiped out populations of amphibians worldwide and have both been found in captive collections in the UK.

• Whilst very valuable, the GB IUCN red listing process is not suitable for this purpose. It is complex and requires high levels of evidence of population trends. This in turn requires high level species surveys and analysis of the data to determine population trends at a national scale. There has been no provision made as to how this will be resourced and an assumption that NGO’s will take on the burden of this work. IUCN guidance specifically identifies automatic use of Red List categories in policy as an “inappropriate use” of the Red List; and the IUCN Red List category “Vulnerable” is a “Threatened” category, which means it is “facing a high risk of extinction in the wild”.

• The changes that have been decided by the QQR Review Group remove the opportunity to prevent species decline. Under the changes outlined we will only be reacting to catastrophic species declines. We would like to formally request that the QQR Review Group carry out a public consultation on the decision to change the eligibility criteria before proceeding with the planned timetable. We await your response.

Yours Sincerely,

The Froglife Trust
People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)
Amphibian and Reptile Groups of UK (ARG UK)
Glasgow Natural History Society
Trees for Life
Black2Nature
Biological Recording in Scotland (BRISC)
British Hedgehog Preservation Society
Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT)
Bat Conservation Trust
Sussex Wildlife Trust
Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK)
Marine Conservation Society
The Wildlife Trusts
Freshwater Habitats Trust
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)
Friends of Glasgow’s Local Nature Reserves
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
Citizen Zoo
Scottish Badgers
Wildlife and Countryside Link
Scottish Environment LINK
Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Scottish Wild Land Group
Rewilding Britain
Badger Trust
Wales Environment Link
RSPB
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL)
Butterfly Conservation*
British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA)*
Scottish Wildlife Trust*
CPRE Kent, the countryside charity.*
Dumfries and Galloway Pine Marten Group (DGPMG)*

*Additional signatories added after the letter was first sent

People of Scotland have their say on the climate and nature emergency

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The global climate summit COP26 will be a major opportunity to re-energise efforts to tackle the climate emergency. Organisations including RSPB Scotland, Christian Aid and National Trust for Scotland have come together to create a new campaign, Climate Scotland, to bring the messages of thousands of people in Scotland to the talks.

Through Climate Scotland, people in Scotland can send leaders a message to show they want strong and meaningful action to protect the things they love, and create a better future for people everywhere. 

Climate Scotland is a sister campaign to another running in Wales, Climate Cymru. Together, they will represent voices from two of the four UK nations and their devolved governments.

Individuals visiting the Climate Scotland website are able to add their voice to the campaign by selecting a topic that is most of interest to them and adding a comment to say why. The topics, as follows, cover a broad range of perspectives:

  • Flourishing communities 
  • Future generations
  • Greener, fairer livelihoods
  • Wildlife and nature
  • Sustainable food systems 
  • Protecting the world’s resources
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Beautiful places
  • Solidarity with global neighbours.

The campaign aims to collect 10,000 messages and share them at the COP26 talks in November, either at the Green Zone (an official UK government space) or another high profile venue. Through this, everyone in Scotland has the opportunity to show world leaders how much they care about the climate and nature emergencies.

Over 20 charities, civil society groups and non-profit organisations have already signed up to be a campaign partner including Froglife, so why not add your voice to the campaign yourself? You can do so here.

Submitting your sightings is now quicker and easier

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Froglife’s new and improved Dragon Finder app is here.  The app helps you to identify amphibians and reptiles, find out more about individual species and submit a record of your sighting.  Collecting records is a vital first step in wildlife conservation.  This data provides the evidence needed to protect important sites and alert us to population declines.  

Dragon Finder app users will find all the great features of the original version but now with a simpler process for submitting your records, many technical improvements and compatibility with recent models of mobile phones.  Existing users will simply be asked to update the app the next time they open it.

Froglife submit all the records collected through the Dragon Finder app to the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) to be shared publicly on the NBN Atlas.  Many of the improvements that we’ve made to the app and supporting database mean that the records are now in better shape to be submitted to this platform and local biodiversity record centres.  In short this means that the records you submit are now even more valuable.

The Dragon Finder App was first launched in 2014 and is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Amphibians and reptiles are the most threatened species globally and also the least recorded.  For successful conservation of these fascinating creatures we need to understand their national distribution and population trends. 

Froglife’s CEO, Kathy Wormald says “We are delighted to be launching this much needed new version of the app.  To support Froglife’s work conserving UK amphibians and reptiles we ask everyone to download the app and submit their sightings”.

Find out more

What our animals are doing this month….

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The grass snake is the only UK snake to lay eggs rather than give birth to live young. They lay their eggs in June and July, ideally in rotting vegetation which provides a warm and safe place for the eggs to be incubated. Compost heaps are a perfect egg-laying spot, so keep an eye out for grass snakes using compost heaps in your garden or allotment. Since they are such a popular spot for grass snakes, it is also important that we minimise any disturbance to our compost heaps at this time of year to avoid harming any eggs.

Grass snakes are the largest of our native snakes, reaching up to 1.5m in length, and can be easily identified by their distinctive yellow and black collar. Once the eggs hatch in late summer, the tiny juveniles look exactly same as the adults, except they are just 15cm long. They can be found throughout England and Wales, but are more limited in Scotland where they are only found in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.

Remember to record any reptile, amphibian or egg sightings on our FREE Dragon Finder app. 

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