Local toads are to be helped across a busy road between Bwlchgwyn and Llandegla as part of a national campaign to help the common toad.
Volunteers are gearing up to visit the site over the next few weeks and will help carry the toads over the busy road to help them as they move towards their breeding ponds following the recent run of milder spring weather.
“The A525 between Bwlchgwyn and Llandegla is a very fast road, so toads don’t stand much chance,” says Lizzy Webster, Biodiversity Officer at Denbighshire County Council, who is helping to coordinate the patrol. “We’re eager to get more people volunteering, and we want to hear from people with an interest in helping toads over the next few weeks.”
The common toad – a charismatic amphibian with warty skin and waddling gait – is thought to be experiencing declines in the UK, in some cases caused by the effect of road traffic as toads travel slowly back to the same breeding ponds, often used for generations.
These local volunteers are part of a national campaign called ‘Toads on Roads’, coordinated by the national wildlife charity Froglife, and supported by ARG UK, a national network of volunteer groups concerned with amphibian and reptile conservation. Over the coming weeks, one thousand volunteers will be gearing up to help toads across the UK’s roads, in a coordinated effort to help save the charming animal from further declines.
Other Toad Patrols exist in North East Wales, details of which can be found on the Froglife website (www.froglife.org) – for more details: [email protected] or call 01733 558844.
