ARC’s Saving Scotland's Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAAR)  Education Officer Janet Ullman looks back on a busy year, and forward to the next

In Scotland we are basking in spring sunshine, from the Lowlands to the Highlands. This has resulted in a very early surveying season for all amphibians and reptiles. The Saving Scotland Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAAR) team of Rachael and I hardly had time to dust off the cobwebs from nets and trays before we were thrust out into the wilds to do survey training, toad ladders, school pond dipping and more.

Before we properly embark on a whole new year, we can take time to reflect on the last twelve months. Last April was certainly not as sunny and we had suffered from massive fluctuating temperature changes over February and into March - warm sunshine to frost and snow in alternative weeks. This caused some stress to all our Scottish species and for frogs that bred early, normally a competitive advantage, there was the loss of their spawn to frost damage.

By April things were settled and the pattern of emergence, breeding and feeding began. I had the great pleasure of working with the Highland Ranger Service on their ‘Puddles to Ponds’ project working with the Highland Council Schools. I got to travel from Skye to Muir of Ord, from Fort William to Ullapool, visiting excited classes as they pond dipped and surveyed their amphibian life and freshwater invertebrates. I also got to present a Google Classroom which is available for all schools, and worked with nursery schools on developing the Tadpole Pack resources for nurseries.

There were a few training events for Rangers and landowners on slow-worm surveying to support Cally Ullman-Smiths’ undergraduate project on the Highland Slow-worm Survey. I got to visit several gardens and community groups and was able to give some advice on gardening for slow-worms on Radio Skye, on a webinar hosted by Hi-Life Highland and through articles in the local press. I attended community growing events, such as the Growers Hub Broadford Isle of Skye, giving advice on encouraging slow-worms in and out of polytunnels to eat slugs.

I travelled across Scotland supporting community events, in all weathers, whether it was staffing a stall or doing a school pond dip. There was a growing trend in giving advice on pond rescue and pond clearance across the country from urban to rural settings.

As the year turned and headed into autumn Rachael and I were invited to give more talks and even more pond clearance advice. The University of Edinburgh Wildlife Society hosted a ‘Pints with Scientist’ event which we enthusiastically attended. We were met with a host of questions on working in the conservation sector and we were very warmly received and looked after.

Now we are in spring 2025 and we are already into great crested newt (GCN) surveyor training and surveying to assess the state of GCNs in Scotland. The SSAAR team have a partnership project with Perth and Kinross Council assisting advising the ‘Biodiversity Towns and Villages’ project. I have recently returned from a week in Perthshire visiting schools, doing pond dipping and asking questions on all things herpetological.

We’ve also been busy with our work engaging new audiences and attracting new volunteers.

Did you know?! The environmental sector is the second least diverse sector in the UK – second to agriculture. Many of the environmental NGOs have been making positive steps to address this. We’re a member of Scottish Environment Link and together with over 40 member organisations were invited to take part in EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) fortnight. This was a brilliant opportunity to learn about the great work being carried out across Scotland and some lessons learnt as well as ideas for us to implement in the future!

Rachael has been working with Make Your Mark (MYM) – an inclusive volunteering campaign in Scotland. We were delighted to have been selected to take part in a co-design workshop. Thanks to MYM and AMINA – a vibrant Muslim Women’s Resource Centre based in Glasgow; our three organisations have been working together in ARC’s first co-design sessions.

We’ve had two sessions; the first one was facilitated by Erin from MYM with us getting together to talk about ARC’s work in Scotland and ways to get involved. We had a follow up session making some amphibian, reptile or habitat features glass artwork. Next up we’ll be heading to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) for an insect hotel making workshop.  

Another engaging workshop we had was in partnership with the Cromarty Art Trust. This workshop was organised thanks to a huge amphibian lover Barbel – who has been rescuing amphibians from gully pots (storm drains) in the area. Rachael headed up North to give a workshop on amphibian ID and conservation, and was accompanied by Trevor Rose who heads up Friends of Angus Herpetofauna. Trevor ran a session on gully pots and the group had a fun session building amphibian friendly ladders – to help amphibians climb out of drains. Barbel then ran a brilliant art session where we all made toad homes and then different amphibian models – to varying degrees of success but a lot of fun was had by all. A big thank you to Barbel and Nicki (Cromarty Trust) who organised the workshop.  

Looking ahead, we continue to increase our network and encourage more people across Scotland to get involved with herp conservation. We continue to work closely with the ReThink Nature partners – working together for species conservation and this year thanks to funding from the Highlands and Islands Environmental Fund (HIEF) we will be running two co-design workshops with Crofters on Skye and Lewis to develop bespoke habitat management guidance for crofts. We’ll also be translating these materials into Gaelic and are delighted this will be our first dual medium language programme.

If you’d like to find out more about the Saving Scotland’s Amphibians and Reptiles project visit our project page.