An Inspirational Wildlife Project for Herefordshire
Snakes can invoke fascination or fear and loathing, even amongst wildlife lovers. Many people have a problem identifying, understanding and appreciating snakes. Even the slow-worm, a legless lizard, is regularly mistaken for an adder. The public now have the opportunity to learn about and observe Herefordshire’s reptiles with this exciting wildlife initiative; “What’s that Snake?”.
“What’s That Snake?” with nearly £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is a collaboration of the Herefordshire Amphibian and Reptile Team (HART) and Herefordshire Nature Trust and will run for two years. All of the County’s reptile species are now UK Priority Bio-Diversity Plan Action Species, necessary due to national declines of populations through habitat loss and mismanagement. The adder also has a local species action plan in Herefordshire.
The Amphibian and Reptile Atlas produced by HART in 2006 revealed a disturbing lack of reptile records particularly for adders and viviparous lizards. With the correct training in identification and survey knowledge volunteers, young and old alike, will be inspired to appreciate, locate and record these fascinating and secretive creatures. This involves surveying at 10 locations throughout the county. Targeted areas include the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Beauty (AONB), Wye Valley AONB, Ross- on- Wye, Goodrich, Mortimer Forest Trail area and Kington, working in co-operation with Forestry Commission, National Trust, Malvern Hills Conservators, Commons and volunteer habitat management groups. Verified records will be submitted to the Herefordshire Biological Records Centre.
Training days have been held in Spring 2009 and 2010.
The project also plans to visit 40 schools providing illustrated identification posters, worksheets and interactive DVDs to be used as educational tools, creating wildlife interest in future generations. Community road shows, with dedicated advice and visual displays to further spread awareness, are planned and a web site linked to the HART site will keep the public informed of the Project’s activities.
People enjoy recounting their first snake encounters and hopefully these uplifting reptile encounters will increase with awareness of this project. Reptiles are very much indicators of the health of our countryside and “What’s That Snake?” will hopefully give us an idea of how these indicators are faring.
The following can be downloaded as pdfs:
A Guide to Herefordshire's Reptiles
If you would like to know more about this project contact Nigel Hand, Project Co-ordinator at The Hereford Nature Trust on 01432 356872 or mobile 07974121806.
What's That Snake? project is a partnership between Herefordshire Amphibian and Reptile Team (HART) and Herefordshire Nature Trust.
