Defra has announced legal protection for a rare frog with a distinctive accent. From 1 October 2008, the pool frog, together with the lesser whirlpool ram’s-horn snail and the Fisher’s estuarine moth, will be legally protected through the Habitats Regulations from being killed, taken, injured, disturbed, owned or sold, or having their resting or breeding places destroyed.
A partnership working under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, including Anglian Water, Natural England, Forestry Commission, The Herpetological Conservation Trust, and the Institute of Zoology, helped reintroduce the pool frog to a secret site in Norfolk three years ago, where targeted habitat restoration has produced ideal conditions. Frogs were imported from Sweden under special permission.
Minister for Wildlife, Joan Ruddock said:
“Working in harmony with nature is becoming more and more important as increasing demands are made on our environment. The UK’s native species need our support, and I hope this announcement will help give the pool frog a secure future.”
Natural England’s amphibian specialist, Jim Foster, said:
“It is vitally important to have this kind of protection in place for the pool frog before we could consider reintroducing them to new ponds in other parts of East Anglia.
“Early signs are encouraging that the pool frogs are settling in to the current release site. However, it will be several years before we can confidently assess the success of this reintroduction.”
The Habitats Regulations translate the European Habitats Directive into domestic law. They define the species of animal native to Great Britain that are listed in the EC Habitats Directive as species in need of strict protection.
The lesser whirlpool ram’s-horn snail is a small aquatic snail with a flattened spiral shell rarely more than 5mm in diameter. It occurs in unpolluted, calcareous waters in marsh drains with dense aquatic foliage. Threatened by land drainage and inappropriate habitat management, the snail is restricted to a few locations in Norfolk, Suffolk and Sussex. The Fisher’s estuarine moth is already afforded some protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is a noctuid moth restricted to a small area of seawalls and coastal grassland in North East Essex. It is threatened by sea level rises and inappropriate management of habitats, with the total population estimated at 1000 – 5000 adult moths.
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