Highland dragons need your help
About Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
"Nature is in crisis – species and their habitats are under increasing pressures and the UK remains one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. But there is hope. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (ARC) is one of many environmental NGOs that are actively working to conserve wildlife and to provide the voice it needs to survive into the future. As a leading custodian of UK amphibians and reptiles and the habitats on which they depend, ARC is well positioned to make a positive difference towards conserving biodiversity, to challenge the threats to it and to help people gain access to nature."
About Great Crested Newts in Highland
From the Nature Scot website - Populations of great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) in the Scottish Highlands (Inverness area) are separated by over 80 km of unfavourable habitat from their main distribution, and it was thought possible that they had been introduced. Using genetic techniques, NatureScot and the University of Salford have worked in partnership to investigate the origin of great crested newts in the Scottish Highlands.
Our findings suggest that the great crested newt is indeed a species native to the Scottish Highlands. This information will be used to help us to protect this animal at the north-western edge of its world distribution.
The Training
Despite the great work that has been done previously on this species in the Highlands we suspect there are a few sites that are not being monitored regularly and there may be more sites we're currently unaware of.
Great Crested Newts need suitable ponds surrounded by good quality terrestrial habitat and they are rather more fastidious in their requirements than our more common newt species. This training will introduce you to the habitat requirement for this species and ARC survey protocols. Great Crested Newts are also a protected species, and they can only be surveyed under licence, as part of this training you will have the opportunity to be added to the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Licence for surveying this species. We ask that you register as a volunteer with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation before the start of this training.
Photo by Chris Dresh
You may also like the following events from Ross-Shire Countryside Rangers:
- This Tuesday, 6th May, 10:00 am, Guided Nature Walk to Ferry Point in Evanton
- Next Wednesday, 14th May, 02:00 pm, UKBMS Butterfly Survey Training in Inverness
- This month, 28th May, 11:00 am, Guided Coastal Walk: Ullapool to Rhue for World Otter Day, Ullapool in Evanton
Also check out other
Workshops in Inverness.
