South Wales

Carry on Connecting! By Mark Barber - Connecting the Dragons Project Officer

Following a successful application to the National Lottery Heritage fund, ARC’s Connecting the Dragons project is now underway. The four-year large-scale project employs two officers operating across southern Wales, focusing on three main aims to restore and raise awareness of its declining and fragmented amphibian and reptile populations.

The first aim is to increase habitat connectivity and colony robustness of our target species. This will be achieved by creating and restoring ponds for great crested newts and common toads, influencing how protected sites are managed for

adders (their hibernation sites in particular), and creating and restoring sand lizard sand patches and grass snake egg laying sites.

The second is to create a network of skilled, motivated volunteers and partners to undertake pond and reptile surveying and monitoring of those target species. This will take place through a tailored programme of training and volunteer mentoring throughout their journey.

Our final aim is to improve the image and increase understanding of our target species in the

public eye, targeting existing and new, including hard to reach, audiences. Much of our time will be spent reversing the negative image around adders in various key areas across southern Wales.

If you live in our project area (see the map above) and would like to get involved, please contact us on HLFDragons@arc-trust.org

South Wales

Photo : Some of the species and activities taking place throughout the project © Mark Barber and Pete Hill (ARC)