Current national survey initiatives:
Adders
Add an Adder: The HCT are looking for both new and old records, observations and anecdotes that help them understand where adders are and where they have been in the past.
Make the Adder count - a Springtime Adder survey: is a joint initiative which aims to gain a measure of national population status by counting adders after their springtime emergence from winter hibernacula.
Slow worms
Slow-worm compost survey: As an activity of NARRS, the HCT have launched a national Slow worm survey, and are requesting that people let them know if they find Slow worms in their gardens, particularly compost heaps.
Click to download a Slow worm survey form
Surveying determines the likely presence or absence of a species at a given site. Without this knowledge, all other conservation activities are severely hampered. We need to know where the animals are present, in order to protect them.
Repeated surveys can start to build up a picture of species' distributions over time. This is the point where surveying starts to become a monitoring activity. Ideally monitoring should include population estimates, and record how the size of these populations varies over time. Such information allows us to determine when conservation measures are working, and helps to identify threats to populations at an early stage.
The UK has an area of about 250,000 square kilometers, and only a few dozens of volunteer surveyors. In order to achieve anything close to an accurate image of where herpetofauna is present, public involvement is vital. This is why your sightings are important !
The National Amphibian and Recording Scheme (NARRS) is a new national initiative which aims to pull together survey information from across the country. County ARGs such as SARG will provide vital inputs to the NARRS database. All Surrey sightings will contribute to this goal, and the animals will benefit from better targeting of conservation effort.
Survey of amphibians and reptiles in Surrey:
Every sighting record of an amphibian or reptile within Surrey is important to us. The basic, essential information is the date and place of the sighting. An Ordnance Survey grid-reference is ideal, but an address or postcode will do. A photograph of the animal, even if taken with a mobile phone will help enormously, as it allows us to positively identify the animal, and add confidence to the sighting.
Records of sightings should be sent to:
Rick Anstis (County recorder),
Surrey Amphibian and Reptile Group,
7 Arundel Road,
Dorking,
Surrey RH4 3HY
Email: secretary@surrey-arg.org.uk
Should you wish to become more involved with the structured survey effort within Surrey, please approach any of the people listed on the contacts page. More comprehensive survey of herpetofauna requires a good deal of contextual information, designed to increase our knowledge of these fascinating animals. An example structured survey sheet can be found by clicking this link.