Froglife’s Spring Magazine: Climate Change

Froglife’s biannual magazine Natterchat is out and the theme this spring/summer is climate change. What effect does the climate have on amphibians and reptiles? What can we do to help them survive? These are tricky questions to answer, particularly in the recent confusion about climate change research.

Natterchat features news on some of the latest conservation research, including Anna Muir’s PhD with the University of Glasgow looking into Common frogs and climate. Dr Viorel D. Popescu from the University of California also fills us in of the story of the Mink frog in America, and some helpful beavers!

The spring/summer edition of Froglife's magazine Natterchat

Barbara Dinham, formerly of the Pesticide Action Network UK, gives tips on what you can do to help at home and there is also a review of ‘The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars’ - a book putting a climate scientist's point of view in the climategate scandal of 2009 by Michael E. Mann.

We are also delighted to announce in Natterchat that we have a new Patron: BBC One Show’s Mike Dilger! Mike is a naturalist and broadcaster with a passion for amphibians, reptiles and conservation education. You’ll be hearing more from him soon.

- You can find Natterchat online at the Froglife website here.

You can receive a paper copy of the magazine twice a year by signing up as a Froglife Friend through an annual donation. You will also be helping support our work, and entitled to special offers for events and competitions. We’d love to have you on board – you can sign up to help amphibians and reptiles here.


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Cover photo: Dr Victoria Ogilvy

Froglife’s Glasgow Pond Project up for National Award

Froglife staff were really excited to hear that one of our pond restoration projects based in Glasgow has been short-listed for a prestigious national award at the 2012 Biffa Awards. The ceremony recognises the people who transform their communities and improve the environment through Biffa Award funded projects using Landfill Communities Fund.

Selected from nearly 100 hopeful applicants, Froglife’s Glasgow Living Waters Project will now compete against four other organisations from across the country for the chance to be named winner of the ‘Rebuilding Biodiversity’ category, and receive a £2,000 prize.


Happy volunteers at work on Froglife's Living Waters project in Scotland

The project received nearly £50,000 in funding from Biffa Award to create and restore pond habitats at 14 sites across Glasgow, including five brand new ponds. These freshwater habitats support a wide range of wildlife amphibians, water voles, aquatic invertebrates and plant species as well as helping to alleviate flood risks and provide important recreational space.
The Biffa Awards ceremony 2012 will be held on September 27 at the Historic Dockyard Chatham, Kent, where all the finalists will be invited to attend a day of celebrating the enthusiasm and commitment of those who dedicate their lives to making a real difference to their community and the environment.

Creating a shelf for plants in Dawsholm Park

Competition has been fierce from the start, with more than 200 projects eligible to enter the awards under five different categories: Community Buildings, Cultural Facilities, Rebuilding Biodiversity, Recreation and Small Grants.

Category winners at the Awards will receive a trophy and prize money of £2,000, which can be used to further develop their project. Each winner then has the chance of being crowned the Overall Winner for 2012, receiving a further £1,000 prize.

“The Biffa Awards are a unique opportunity to reward and recognise the dedicated people who are delivering some of the excellent projects we have funded,” said Gillian French, Biffa Award Programme Manager. “A great deal of the projects we support have a huge and lasting impact on their local community and environment, so to be short-listed for an award is a tremendous achievement in itself. Our judges have a difficult but exciting task ahead in choosing the winners.”

• You can find out more about the £125 million that Biffa Award has given to support environmental and other projects through the Landfill Communities Fund at their website here
• There is more information about our Living Waters scheme on the Froglife website here
• Top tips for revamping and maintain your garden pond are in our Just Add Water booklet available here

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Photos: Richard Bolton and Eilidh Spence