Why Toads Frogs And Newts Need Our Help
In the United Kingdom today the amphibian popuation is swiftly dwindling and faces long term survival challenges of almost overwhelming proportions. The key factors lending to this decline are habitat loss, pollution and disease. Many experts concur that unless something significant is done we could see the loss of these amazing animals in our lifetime.
When i think myself back to my childhood days I can recall many a fine day as a boy with my friends at the local pools or the brook, endless summertime days catching frogs and newts and sticklebacks (we invariably let them go!). It embodied a really great childhood, I was very lucky.
A few years ago I travelled back to the region I grew up in, in that location is now a car park where those fantastic old pools were. The brook is fouled and looked stagnant and devoid of life. These days in our over-developed urban areas such habitats are getting rarer and rarer.
The total number of habitats wasted to development has been catastrophic and irreversible. Many sites have been preserved from development by the presence of great-crested newts or natterjack toads, the rarest of our native species.
There was a well publicized instance lately where a colony of great-crested newts was relocated, at a tremendous expense, to make way for a new runway at Manchester Airport.
Still the amount of waterways and ponds that were not fortuitous enough to house either of these two species and have been developed total in the thousands, extraordinary numbers of Newts, toads and frogs eliminated and the tremendous biodiversity of plants, animals and insects that dwelled there exterminated too.
As if this is not sufficient to deal with, the spectre of dangerous viral contagions wont go away. The frog population in the South East of the nation has already experienced devastating outbreaks of Ranavirus. A non-native amphibian species is thought to have brought Ranavirus into the United Kingdom, most probably from North America.There is no cure at present. It can also infect the Common Toad and all 3 of our newt species.
Fortunately, the developing popularity of natural gardening techniques and practices offers a glimmer of hope in the fight for the future of these unreplaceable and charming animals. Although there is no defence against the Ranavirus, anyone could effectively and easily add to the amount of viable habitat they have got. Easy to create and manage, a wildlife pool will beguile and educate all ages, and it can look pretty amazing besides!
Even the most small-scale, basic pool could be a treasure trove, plentiful in biodiversity and of interest all year round. Therefore make time for a bit of nature in your life, your kids lives. Go in the garden in the fresh air and start creating!
Mark Best writes articles that help people to design and build the Perfect garden Pond for them. And how to choose the right equipment, such as the right Garden Pond Filter for your needs.
Tags: amphibians, animals, family, gardening, home and family, Landscaping, wildlife pond
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