40,000 toads to be rescued from death on Britain's roads

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40,000 toads to be rescued from death on

Britain’s roads

 

Some

40,000 toads will be rescued by volunteers. Credit ARC

Toads on Roads campaign

March 2010. Volunteers are gearing up to rescue

over 40,000 toads from potential death on the UK's roads in the coming

fortnight, setting a new record.

 

Roads need to be more

amphibian friendly

The action is being coordinated to highlight to

planners and highways authorities that roads need to be made more

amphibian-friendly, to stop toads from undergoing further local extinctions in

the UK.

 

Toads beginning

seasonal migration

With the sudden arrival of the milder spring

conditions, toads across the country are now beginning their seasonal

migrations to breeding ponds. At many sites, these migrations occur across busy

roads and thousands of toads become victims of road traffic. A national network

of volunteer ‘Toad patrollers' exists to help toads across designated

roads, armed with torches and buckets. This network of over a thousand

volunteers rescued 34,970 toads last spring.

 

Toads on Roads

The volunteers are coordinated through Toads on

Roads, a campaign run by the charity Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC).

758 toad-crossing points have been registered with the charity.

 

Lucy Benyon, ARC's Toads on Roads coordinator said

" These volunteer toad patrollers are incredibly committed and some

volunteers have been out on spring nights saving toads for almost 25 years.

This spring, we're keen to break the 40,000 toad-mark, partly as a symbolic gesture

to show planners and highways authorities that this is a serious issue for

wildlife conservation, and that this issue isn't going away without their

taking notice. "

 

Common toad

The Common toad - Bufo

bufo - has experienced declines in parts of the UK, in

some cases caused by the effect of road traffic. In 2007, the common toad was

added to the Government's Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) priority species

list.

 

Amphibian and Reptile

Conservation is keen to inform planners and highways engineers about

measures they can take to make amphibian-friendly roads. To help, they have

produced a best-practice booklet called ‘Common toads and roads: guidance

for planners and highways engineers.' The booklet is being given free to local

authorities across England.

 

" Public bodies have a responsibility to

consider biodiversity priority species, including toads, when they are planning

new roads and other developments. " said Dr John Wilkinson, ARC's species

expert.

 

Measures that roads can take to be more

amphibian-friendly include: ‘toad tunnels', wildlife bridges, and lowered

kerbs (which toads can climb) to escape the road surface.

 

To find your nearest registered toad

crossing,

 

http://tinyurl.com/yf4g2rz