Have you seen any reptiles or amphibians in London? _ Let CLARE know

Connecting London's Amphibian & Reptile Environments (CLARE)

If you have seen any amphibians and reptiles within Greater London, please fill in the GiGL CLARE Form to help us determine where in our region these animals live. 

September 2011. Life isn't easy for reptiles and amphibians in London so a new project has been launched to lend a helping hand.

9 species known to live in London
London has a superb diversity of wildlife. Nine of the thirteen British native herpetofauna species occur naturally in the Capital, these are; common frog, common toad, great crested newt, smooth newt, palmate newt, slow-worm, common lizard, grass snake and adder.

Invasive species
There are also other species, some of which are not naturally found in Britain thriving in small pockets of land in London. Surprisingly, though, there is very little information about the distribution of these species in London and this is hampering opportunities to conserve them. In addition, knowledge of these species is not as good as it could be and this is reducing the opportunities for people to do more for these species and to appreciate the herpetofauna on their doorstep.

ARC has teamed up with London Wildlife Trust, Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL - the Capital's Environmental Records Centre), London Amphibian and Reptile Group (LARG) and London, Essex & Hertfordshire Amphibian and Reptile Trust (LEHART) for this new project.  With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund we have begun 'Connecting London's Amphibian and Reptile Environments.'

This project campaigns for a wider public participation and education in wildlife recording and a raised profile and understanding of herps and their distribution within Greater London. 

The aims of the project are:

• to find out more about where London's amphibians and reptiles can be found
• to provide information that will help look after them into the future.
• to ask people to look for these animals and to tell us where they have seen them
• to provide an opportunity for people to see what they look like and to find out how best to look for them in the wild through a series of events
• to produce an atlas of distribution based on records and on predictive mapping/ modelling
• to provide specific training and advice to help staff and volunteers of the London Wildlife Trust, London Amphibian & Reptile Group and others, to promote amphibian and reptile conservation, especially on LWT Reserves and through LWT projects
• to provide more opportunities for people to see just how fascinating these little animals are!