Mammals
Birds
Amphibians
Reptiles
New Species Action Plan for the Jersey agile frog
19 September 2024
Jersey is the only place in the British Isles with a population of agile frogs. One of only three native amphibian species in Jersey, the agile frogs found on the island are genetically different to other agile frogs due to their geographical separation from the populations in mainland Europe.
Once widely distributed throughout Jersey, decades of intensified agriculture and development have confined the locally Critically Endangered species to a single location at Ouaisne Common on the southwest coast.
Conservation work to save the agile frog and safeguard the species' future started with a Species Action Plan developed in 2000. While the Department of Natural Environment looks after the habitat at Ouaisne Common through maintenance, protection and regular monitoring, and creating new ponds in the vicinity, Durrell carries out annual head-starting of frogspawn to boost the population.
Raising the tadpoles in a bio-secure converted shipping container at Jersey Zoo protects them during their most vulnerable stage, meaning more of the population survives once we release them into the wild. By 2024, we had head-started over 80,000 tadpoles to metamorphosis and released them back into Ouaisne, Noirmont, and Beauport ponds.
This September, conservationists held a workshop at Durrell Conservation Academy to create a new Species Action Plan for the Jersey agile frog. Participants from Durrell, States of Jersey Environment Department, National Trust for Jersey, Jersey Amphibian and Reptile Group, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation UK and DICE/University of Kent worked to identify, assess and prioritise risks, set short-term goals with SMART objectives and actions, look at broadening and formalising the partnerships, and come up with a vision statement.