It has recently been that time of year again. The Herpetofauna Workers Meeting (HWM) has become one of the most important gatherings in the British herpetological calendar. Organised by Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) in partnership with the Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK), the annual two-day meeting brings together an unusually broad cross-section of people involved in the conservation of Britain’s amphibians and reptiles. Volunteers, professional ecologists, conservation practitioners, academics, students, government agencies, recording groups and representatives of environmental organisations all have a place within the event. The 2026 meeting, held at the Crowne Plaza Glasgow on 31 January and 1 February, continued this tradition while placing particular emphasis on Scotland, landscape-scale conservation, habitat creation, reintroductions, biological recording and the future of herpetofauna conservation. The choice of Glasgow was significant. The Herpetofauna Workers Meeting moves around the country, and Glasgow had previously hosted the event, but 2026 represented its return to the city after a 13-year interval. The location also provided an opportunity to give Scottish amphibian and reptile conservation a particularly prominent position within the programme. With Scotland developing its own long-term strategy for herpetofauna, alongside major debates about rewilding, habitat restoration and infrastructure development, there was much to discuss.
The conference was held in a packed Crowne Plaza, reflecting the continuing popularity of the meeting. ARC described the venue as filled to capacity, while the overall event demonstrated the strength of the community working on British amphibians and reptiles. The meeting combined formal presentations with practical workshops, networking, an evening gala dinner and the now-established Have I Got Newts for You quiz (more on that later). This combination is one of the event’s greatest strengths: it provides a professional forum for discussing conservation science while retaining the informal and collegiate character of the British herpetological community. The conference opened with an address from ARC Chief Executive Tony Gent, which included a recorded welcome from Sharon Dowey MSP, Nature Champion for Gardens and Designed Landscapes. Her involvement underlined the importance of political engagement in securing a future for amphibians and reptiles in Scotland. Conservation of herpetofauna increasingly depends on decisions made outside traditional nature-conservation circles, particularly in planning, land management, agriculture, water management and infrastructure.
The first major keynote came from Jeremy Biggs, Chief Executive of the Freshwater Habitats Trust. His presentation provided both a historical perspective and a challenge to the conservation community. Reflecting on approximately four decades of work by the Freshwater Habitats Trust and its predecessors, Biggs asked whether enough had been done to protect ponds. His answer was emphatically negative. The presentation highlighted the disproportionate ecological importance of ponds. Although they are often overlooked in comparison with rivers, lakes and wetlands, ponds can support extraordinarily rich communities of plants and invertebrates and are fundamental habitats for amphibians. Historically, however, small ponds received remarkably little formal protection. Biggs traced the development of pond conservation over recent decades and emphasised the importance of protecting the best ponds regardless of their size. He also looked towards future water-policy reform and stressed that partnerships would be essential if pond conservation is to progress. This was an appropriate opening theme for the conference. Amphibian conservation is frequently presented as a problem of species protection, but the reality is that many of Britain’s amphibians depend upon relatively small and easily overlooked habitats. Protecting a species therefore means protecting the network of ponds, wetlands, grasslands and terrestrial habitats on which its life cycle depends.
The Scottish focus continued with Lisa Chilton, Chief Executive of Scotland: The Big Picture. Her presentation explored the role that rewilding could play in creating better conditions for amphibians and reptiles. Scotland: The Big Picture works with landowners, including food producers and crofters, to encourage large-scale ecological restoration. Several of the organisation’s principles have direct relevance to herpetofauna. Creating more space for water, reconnecting habitats and reducing damaging land-management practices can benefit amphibians and reptiles as well as a much wider range of wildlife. The presentation was particularly interesting because it placed herpetofauna within a broader rewilding agenda rather than treating reptiles and amphibians as isolated conservation targets. Catherine Watley of NatureScot then presented the Scotland Herp Strategy. This was one of the most significant contributions of the weekend because it addressed the long-term future of Scottish reptiles and amphibians at a strategic level. Scotland faces a distinctive conservation challenge. Much of its population is concentrated within a relatively small proportion of the country’s land area, while monitoring and recording of amphibians and reptiles frequently depends on volunteers and citizen scientists. Establishing a long-term strategy provides a framework within which recording, research, habitat management and species recovery can be coordinated. The strategy also demonstrates an important shift from individual projects towards a more strategic approach to herpetofauna conservation.
The workshops are an important part of the Herpetofauna Workers Meeting because they allow delegates to move beyond listening to presentations and actively participate in discussion. One of the most welcome developments in Glasgow was the inclusion of a Youth Symposium. Young people involved in herpetology were given an opportunity to present their work and discuss their experiences. On the Sunday, the youth programme included a Green Jobs panel featuring people working in consultancy, ecology, fieldwork, academia and outreach. Such initiatives are particularly important for a discipline in which practical experience and professional networks can have a major influence on career development. Another workshop focused on Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, or SUDs. This subject has become increasingly important as housing development expands across Britain. Poorly designed drainage infrastructure can create traps for amphibians, including situations in which animals enter drainage structures and subsequently become trapped or drown. Conversely, appropriately designed SUDs can potentially create valuable aquatic and terrestrial habitat. The workshop therefore illustrated a broader principle of modern conservation: infrastructure should not simply be designed to minimise ecological damage. Where possible, it should actively contribute to biodiversity. The great crested newt Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) was also scrutinised. The HSI has become a familiar tool within British amphibian conservation, particularly in relation to planning and ecological assessment. However, conservation methods need to evolve alongside new evidence and changing environmental conditions. Bringing practitioners together to discuss the strengths and limitations of the existing methodology provides an important opportunity to improve future guidance.
A further workshop examined genetic techniques as conservation tools. The increasing availability of genomic information is opening new possibilities for understanding population structure, genetic diversity, provenance and connectivity. The important question, however, is how such information can be translated into practical conservation action. The workshop therefore addressed a growing tension within conservation genetics: generating increasingly sophisticated genetic data is relatively straightforward compared with determining exactly how that information should influence management decisions. Genomics has become an increasingly important tool in amphibian and reptile conservation in Great Britain, providing information that cannot always be obtained from conventional ecological surveys alone. Genetic and genomic techniques can reveal levels of genetic diversity, population structure, historical connectivity and the degree of isolation between populations, helping conservationists identify populations that may be particularly vulnerable to inbreeding and loss of adaptive potential. This is especially relevant to fragmented species such as the adder (Vipera berus), where recent research has demonstrated the importance of understanding the genetic consequences of small, isolated populations when considering conservation interventions such as population supplementation or translocation. More broadly, advances in sequencing technologies are making increasingly large genomic datasets available for amphibians and reptiles, creating opportunities to identify important genetic variation, investigate responses to environmental change and improve the management of captive-breeding and reintroduction programmes.
Saturday afternoon returned to species-level conservation, with several presentations examining different approaches to amphibian recovery. Jack Harper presented work on the natterjack toad, describing the recreation of a former site in Hampshire and the successful establishment of a sustainable breeding population through a wild-to-wild reintroduction. The achievement was particularly encouraging because conservation success should ultimately be measured not simply by the release of animals but by whether populations become self-sustaining. The reported persistence of the population over five years therefore provides an important case study in practical amphibian restoration. Lewis Dunmore of Banham Zoo and Tim Baker of Natural England described another approach, involving the pool frog. A captive rearing and breeding facility established at the zoo in 2025 is being used to head-start and ultimately captive-breed pool frogs for existing reintroduction sites and potentially new sites within the species’ former East Anglian range. The early results were striking. During its first year, 719 pool frogs were raised, with a reported 99% survival rate from spawn to froglet. Together, these presentations demonstrated that there is no single model for amphibian recovery. Reintroduction, captive breeding, head-starting, habitat creation and landscape restoration can all have roles, depending upon the biology of the species and the circumstances of individual populations.
Harvey Tweats of Celtic Rewilding presented some of the more provocative ideas discussed during the meeting. His work explores the possibility of restoring frog species that the fossil record indicates formerly occurred in Britain, including the Moor Frog and Agile Frog. He also discussed early experiments concerning the potential establishment of European pond turtles as breeding animals in Britain. These ideas inevitably raise complex questions about historical baselines, climate change, ecological risk and what constitutes appropriate conservation intervention. Their inclusion nevertheless demonstrated the willingness of the meeting to engage with emerging and unconventional conservation ideas. Why the controversy? Proponents of maverick rewilding argue that Britain’s conservation system can be excessively cautious and bureaucratic, potentially delaying the return of species that have been lost from the landscape. This debate has become especially relevant to proposals to restore amphibians such as the moor frog, agile frog and European tree frog, which have been identified as species with historical or fossil evidence of former British occurrence. However, critics argue that releasing animals without appropriate scientific assessment, licensing and long-term monitoring can introduce pathogens, obscure the interpretation of population trends and potentially create unforeseen ecological consequences. These concerns are particularly important for amphibians because emerging diseases such as chytridiomycosis and ranaviruses can have severe population-level impacts, while genetic provenance is also important when establishing or reinforcing populations. Unauthorised releases can additionally undermine confidence in legitimate conservation programmes, which are normally expected to demonstrate habitat suitability, assess ecological risks, establish appropriate genetic sourcing and obtain the necessary permissions before animals are moved.
Another important theme was the increasingly sophisticated use of monitoring data. Thomas Duchesne of Natagora in Belgium presented research on common (viviparous) lizards in Wallonia. Rather than relying solely on conventional presence or abundance data, the work incorporated a wider range of information to model occupancy changes. The results indicated an approximately 12% decline over 14 years, with lowland populations experiencing particularly strong reductions. The presentation was relevant beyond Belgium because it illustrated how herpetological monitoring is evolving. Traditional records remain essential, but increasingly sophisticated analytical techniques can extract additional information from long-term datasets. For British herpetofauna, where recording networks have accumulated enormous quantities of volunteer-generated data, improving the analytical use of those records could become an increasingly important conservation tool. The Scottish presentations also highlighted the value of volunteers and local organisations. ARC staff and collaborators described projects involving education, community engagement and conservation work, including work associated with Species on the Edge in the Scottish Solway. The natterjack toad was one focus, alongside several other rare species sharing the landscape.
Sunday morning concentrated particularly on great crested newts and Scottish amphibians. Finn McElrue-Inch and Luisa Dickenmann presented a resurvey of great crested newts in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Particularly interesting was the use of a ‘newt-cam’ to record great crested newts. The increasing use of cameras and automated monitoring technologies could become an important complement to conventional survey methods, potentially allowing longer periods of observation while reducing disturbance. Another presentation examined amphibians at a former shale-oil site subsequently used as a landfill and recreational wild space. The site contained seven ponds but also retained infrastructure that could trap amphibians, demonstrating how apparently valuable wildlife sites can contain hidden hazards. This linked closely with Kirsty MacArthur’s work on SUDs and their ability to provide aquatic and terrestrial habitats for amphibians while intercepting and treating rainwater runoff. With residential development continuing across Britain, the ecological design of drainage infrastructure could become a significant component of amphibian conservation. It is always great to see younger members of the community (such as students) present their research and demonstrate their impact. I was in their shoes not to long ago myself, so I know how stressful it can be but also how rewarding at the same time.
One of the most fascinating presentations came from Professor Richard Griffiths, who described the publication of work undertaken by Bob Stebbings more than 60 years ago. Stebbings’ observations of grass snakes in Purbeck, Dorset, were conducted between 1958 and 1962 and included detailed records of 718 adult snakes. The work is remarkable partly because it was undertaken without many of the survey tools that modern fieldworkers take for granted. Artificial cover objects and standardised survey protocols were not available in the form familiar today. The research nevertheless generated an extraordinary dataset. One of the most interesting observations concerned the use of sawdust piles at an old sawmill as incubation sites for grass snake eggs. The presentation also provided an opportunity to celebrate Stebbings as a remarkable field naturalist and demonstrated the enduring value of historical ecological observations. As someone who studied this species for their PhD, I was particularly interested in Bob’s study and implications it has on my own research. This was also an important reminder that modern conservation does not always require new technology. Historical datasets can provide unique insights into population ecology and long-term change, particularly when combined with contemporary surveys.
Stephen Corcoran addressed the challenge of locating and protecting adders during peatland restoration. Peatland restoration is vital for climate mitigation and biodiversity, but restoration activities can unintentionally damage animals occupying the landscape. Adders can be particularly vulnerable where restoration alters water levels around hibernation sites. This highlights a fundamental challenge facing conservation today: one environmental objective can sometimes conflict with another. Restoring peatlands is beneficial, but it must be undertaken with an understanding of the animals already using those landscapes. Good conservation therefore requires detailed ecological knowledge before, during and after habitat restoration. The final presentation broadened the geographical scope of the conference dramatically. Tony Gent (assisted by Harry Ward-Smith from the crowd), presented work on the 140 reptile and amphibian species occurring across Britain’s Overseas Territories and Dependencies. Thirty-seven of these species are endemic, while more than one-third are considered endangered or worse. This was a valuable reminder that British herpetological conservation extends beyond the mainland. Territories such as Bermuda and other overseas possessions contain species found nowhere else on Earth, making their conservation an international responsibility.
Although the scientific and conservation content is the principal reason people attend the Herpetofauna Workers Meeting, its social programme is equally important. The Gala Dinner provided an opportunity for delegates to meet outside the formal conference environment, while the Have I Got Newts for You quiz has become something of an institution. A crafting challenge involving ‘Nessie’s lesser-known cousin’ added an appropriately ridiculous element to the evening. The combination of serious science, conservation debate and humour reflects something distinctive about the British herpetological community. Networking matters particularly in a field that depends so heavily on collaboration. A university researcher may need access to a local recording group; a consultant may encounter an unusual species record; a volunteer may be looking for training; a conservation organisation may need assistance with monitoring; and an early-career ecologist may simply need to meet people who can explain how to enter the profession. A conference such as HWM provides the physical space in which these connections can happen. The meeting also demonstrated an encouraging commitment to the next generation. Giving young herpetologists a formal platform rather than treating them simply as future participants sends an important message: they are already members of the conservation community.
The Herpetofauna Workers Meeting 2026 demonstrated both the challenges facing Britain’s amphibians and reptiles and the breadth of approaches being developed to address them. Perhaps the strongest theme emerging from Glasgow was that herpetofauna conservation can no longer be considered solely in terms of individual species. Ponds, wetlands, peatlands, drainage systems, agricultural landscapes, urban development, rewilding and land management all influence amphibian and reptile populations. Successful conservation therefore requires collaboration between scientists, volunteers, consultants, government agencies, landowners, planners and local communities. The conference also showed that conservation is becoming increasingly experimental and evidence-driven. Genetic techniques, automated cameras, occupancy modelling, captive breeding, head-starting and landscape-scale restoration are being incorporated alongside traditional field naturalism. At the same time, the presentation on Bob Stebbings’ Grass Snake research demonstrated that careful observations made decades ago can remain valuable today. Perhaps most importantly, Glasgow demonstrated that there remains considerable enthusiasm for Britain’s herpetofauna. The full conference hall, diverse programme and enthusiastic participation suggested that the Herpetofauna Workers Meeting remains a thriving institution. ARC describes it as a flagship annual event, normally attracting around 200 delegates from across the country, and the 2026 meeting reinforced that reputation.
On the whole, there were certainly reasons for concern. Amphibian declines, fragmented habitats, infrastructure-related mortality, pressures on adders, inadequate protection for some pond habitats and the precarious status of species in Britain’s Overseas Territories all demonstrate the scale of the task. Climate change adds another layer of uncertainty, potentially altering the suitability of habitats and making some traditional conservation assumptions increasingly difficult to maintain. Yet the overall mood of the Glasgow meeting was not one of resignation. Instead, it was characterised by practical problem-solving, collaboration and a willingness to consider new ideas. From pond conservation and SUDs to genomics and reintroductions, the meeting showed that British herpetology is developing a diverse toolkit for conservation. If the meeting demonstrated anything conclusively, it is that the future of Britain’s herpetofauna will depend not upon one spectacular intervention but upon thousands of connected actions: protecting ponds, restoring habitats, improving drainage design, monitoring populations, supporting local recording groups, developing young professionals, applying new technologies and ensuring that conservation decisions are informed by good evidence. The strength of the Herpetofauna Workers Meeting lies precisely in bringing all these perspectives together. In doing so, the 2026 meeting reinforced the importance of a community that is willing not only to document the problems facing amphibians and reptiles, but also to debate, experiment and find practical ways of giving them a future. I hope to see you at the next Herpetofauna Workers Meeting, depending on where it is going to be held!
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