JNCC have recently published new guidance on the selection of protected sites for amphibians and reptiles in the UK. The new guidance provides details on when the three country agencies – Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and NatureScot – can select Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) on the basis of their amphibian or reptile populations. These SSSIs provide protection to the protected flora or fauna from potential future damaging activities, they also support landowners to manage the land for the benefit of the protected wildlife.

The original guidance was published in 1989 and was outdated by the advances in knowledge that has been conducted in the last 30 years for amphibians and reptiles, which meant that the original guidance was significantly outdated when being used for current conservation needs and processes.

Our partners at the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) have been working with country agencies to discuss the improvements to the guidance, having investigated the strengths and weaknesses of the original 1989 guidance.

ARC has detailed the key improvements to the guidelines as:

• Explanation of SSSIs in the current legislative context
• Better recognition of widespread yet declining species such as common toad and adder
• Ability to select sites for pool frog
• Strengthened guidance on interpreting survey results
• More robust guidance on selecting appropriate site boundaries
• Consideration of climate change and reintroductions.