Archive of: reptiles

A new guidance document for reptile survey and mitigation in peatland habitats has been published by Amphibian & Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK), supported by Froglife, the Herpetological Society of Ireland (the HSI), and Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC Trust).  The publication of this document is significant, as there has long been a guidance vacuum for reptiles – this goes a small way to filling that gap.

All native reptile species are legally protected in the UK and Ireland, and so consideration should be given to mitigation to avoid committing an offence under the relevant nation-specific legislation (note that wildlife protection law is devolved and varies between individual UK countries).

The document, authored by Caledonian Conservation Ltd Director Chris Cathrine, focuses on Scotland where peatland habitats are extensive.  However, it could be applied to England, Wales, Northern Ireland, or Ireland where peatland habitats also occur.  The guidance is intended to assist in designing mitigation for impacts on reptiles during peatland restoration works but the methods described may also be suitable for the construction phase of some developments on these habitats.  Similarly, some of the approaches described could be adapted, with care, for reptiles occurring on other habitats.

The guidance provides information on peatland reptile ecology, potential impacts, survey methods, and approaches to mitigation to avoid harm to reptiles and construct hibernation features.  A decision tree flow chart is also provided, to help site managers to consider reptiles while planning works.

The new Reptile Survey and Mitigation Guidance for Peatland Habitats document can be downloaded at:  https://www.arguk.org/info-advice/advice-notes/414-10-advice-note-10-reptile-survey-and-mitigation-guidance-for-peatland-habitats

The winners of the Amazing Animals, Brilliant Science competition have been presented with their awards at Edinburgh Zoo, including Caledonian Conservation beanie hats!  

Young artists and writers from across Scotland attended the event on 21st October, organised by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) Trust and hosted by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS).  Children aged 8-18 were asked to paint, draw or write about 15 iconic Scottish species, ranging from Scottish wildcats and red deer to great crested newts. According to ARC's patron and TV presenter Chris Packham: "There are some very striking, imaginative and colourful artworks... and some tremendous essays describing these wonderful animals."

Caledonian Conservation were proud to sponsor the event, with Director Chris Cathrine saying: “Young people are losing their connection to the natural world.  If people don’t care about wildlife, they won’t want to protect it.  It is therefore essential to ensure that the next generation have the opportunity to explore and share in the wonder of Scotland’s wildlife.  It’s an honour and a privilege to help young people build their connection with nature.  Who knows, maybe some of the winners will go on to become the ecologists of the future.”

The creative work done by the children will now be used to help illustrate a new book called "Amazing Animals, Brilliant Science: how DNA technology is being used to help save Scotland's wildlife". The book is being compiled by Dr Pete Minting of ARC.

The Amazing Animals, Brilliant Science competition is part of ARC's Great Crested Newt Detectives project in Scotland, which started in April 2016 and runs until March 2018, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and ARC.

To read more about Amazing Animals, Brilliant Science go to this website:  www.arc-trust.org/news/amazing-animals-brilliant-science

You can learn more about Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust here: www.arc-trust.org

The photo was provided by Pete Minting (ARC) and is used with permission.

Caledonian Conservation Ltd is proud to sponsor the Tay Landscape Partnership Buildings for Biodiversity Conference, to be held at Perth Concert Hall on 9th November.  As people expand urban environments and develop new areas for natural resources such as renewable energy, it is becoming increasingly clear that segregation of wildlife and development is not realistic;  instead, we need to ensure biodiversity benefits are integrated in to these projects.  This conference therefore tackles an important and very current topic.

While developments offer obvious challenges for wildlife, there are many opportunities to benefit biodiversity.  Tay Landscape Partnership pioneered a landscape scale approach to identifying these opportunities with their Buildings for Biodiversity and Tay to Braes projects, which we are proud to have contributed to at Caledonian Conservation Ltd.

The conference programme is wide ranging, covering wildlife law and development, mitigation and enhancement for species, or broader biodiversity opportunities such as green roofs.  The speakers are from an equally diverse range of organisations, including Gaia Research, Swift Conservation, Police Scotland, and Arc Architects Ltd.  Pioneering and inspirational urban ecologist Dusty Gedge will also be giving a talk on Nature-‘based Solutions in the Urban Real.’

As well as the main presentations, there will also be a series of shorter talks including one by Caledonian Conservation Ltd Director Chris Cathrine, as well as Butterfly Conservation Scotland, Inchture Parish Church, Hillcrest Housing Association, Bat Conservation Trust, and the local Amphibian and Reptile Group.

For more information on the event, visit the The Tay Landscape Partnership Buildings for Biodiversity Conference website.

For more information on the landscape scale biodiversity work Caledonian Conservation Ltd completed for Tay Landscape Partnership’s Buildings for Biodiversity and Tay to Braes projects, download the report from our publications page, or directly here: Cathrine, C., Flood, E., Norris, G. and Johnston, S. 2015. Tay Landscape Partnership: Habitats and Buildings Survey. Caledonian Conservation Ltd, Hamilton.

A new book, ‘Amphibians & Reptiles of Scotland’, has been published.  This is the most comprehensive publication on Scotland’s herptiles (amphibians and reptiles) in recent history, including all details of ecology and distribution for all of our native species (including sea turtles) as well as introduced and vagrant species.  Chapters also cover conservation, legal protection, cultural connections, projects and development mitigation.

The principle authors, Chris McInerny (University of Glasgow) and Pete Minting (Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust) bring a wealth of experience, while guest authors bring particular expertise.  Chris Cathrine (Caledonian Conservation Ltd) prepared the grass snake and development mitigation sections, while David O’Brien (Scottish Natural Heritage) wrote the chapter on great crested newt.  All authors drew on a wide range of published sources, and information from other experts.

The book also boasts lavish colour photographs, distribution maps and a beautiful frontispiece by Chris Rose.

Caledonian Conservation Ltd is proud to have sponsored the production of this book, which is an excellent resource for professionals and interested members of the public alike.

The book is available in print, costing £27.50 (inclusive of postage within the UK) – contact Chris McInerny for details of how to order your copy (Chris.McInerny@glasgow.ac.uk).

The book can also be downloaded as a free PDF from the Glasgow Natural History Society website.

Chris Cathrine has taken on a volunteer role with Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK), as Scottish Policy Adviser.  Having stepped down as Scottish Representative in 2014 before the arrival of his first son, he has remained involved with the conservation of reptiles and amphibians – which, along with spiders and beetles first engaged him with the natural world as a child.  With the future of UK environmental protection currently uncertain, he felt it was necessary to dedicate more time to supporting ARG UK in their efforts to influence future policy for the benefit of Scotland’s native reptiles and amphibians.  This role offers the perfect opportunity for this.

Chris brings his experience gained through writing great crested newt and reptile survey and mitigation guidelines, researching Scottish grass snake distribution and over ten years as a professional ecologist (in consultancy, conservation charities and local authority), as well as almost three decades of surveying for these wonderful but often overlooked animals.

We feel it is essential that Caledonian Conservation Ltd gives back to communities as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.  As such, we support conservation charities (through financial donation, in-kind contributions and expertise), conduct in-house research, support other research (through financial donation and provision of resources), provide training, deliver public talks to raise awareness of wildlife, run events for children to share our enthusiasm for the natural world and make as much of our publications and data available publicly (via our publications page and NBN Gateway).

For more information about ARG-UK, visit:  www.arguk.org

Caledonian Conservation Ltd presented a case study of reptile mitigation work we have been undertaking in Scotland at a conference on 9th October 2016 in Cheddar focussing on adder conservation in the UK - The Vanishing Viper: Priorities for adder conservation (organised by Amphibian & Reptile Groups of the UK and Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust).

The case study involves an underground cable route which will connect RES Ltd Freasdail Wind Farm to the grid.  This route crosses over 10 km of reptile habitat where adders, common lizards and slow-worms are present.  However, the construction methods are relatively low impact and transient.  As the erection of a reptile fence of such length would have a greater negative effect than the construction itself, an innovative approach was developed to avoid harm to reptiles during works.  This contrasts with the construction of the wind farm itself, where traditional reptile mitigation using fencing was appropriate.

The presentation was given while works were still in progress, however construction of the cable has since finished and no evidence of harm to reptiles has been recorded.  Therefore, in this case, we conclude that the approach developed was appropriate for Freasdail Wind Farm.  However, at present there is no formal published guidance on reptile mitigation in the UK and this is urgently needed to help protect these special animals.

We hope to publish a detailed article on the mitigation approach and results in the future, so that other ecologists may learn from this work in the absence of formal guidance.

As Director Chris Cathrine was expecting the imminent arrival of his second child, Ian Bradley (Ecological Clerk of Works for much of the project) kindly delivered the presentation, which is available to download here.

For more information about RES Ltd, go to:  http://www.res-group.com/en

For more information about Amphibian & Reptile Groups of the UK, go to:  http://www.arguk.org

For more information about Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust, go to:  http://www.arc-trust.org