Jersey's Agile Frog Conservation Efforts Earn Prestigious Award

In a significant conservation achievement, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey has been shortlisted for a prestigious award for its tireless efforts to save the endangered agile frog. The trust's work to safeguard this species began back in 2001, when the agile frog population in Jersey had steadily declined to just two locations on the island by the 1980s, and was down to a single breeding site by the end of that decade due to a pesticide spill.

Without the trust's intervention, the agile frog would have likely disappeared from Jersey altogether by now. Over the past two decades, the trust has head-started and released over 75,000 tadpoles into the wild, protecting them during their most vulnerable stage in a bio-secure facility before reintroducing them to ponds in Ouaisne, Noirmont, and Beauport. This has been a crucial factor in helping the species recover and thrive once again in its Jersey habitat.

The trust's conservation director, Emma Michel, emphasizes the importance of preserving local biodiversity, stating that "it is just as important to preserve the biodiversity on our doorstep" as it is to work on endangered species globally. With a new species action plan in the works for 2024, the Durrell team remains committed to further increasing the agile frog population in Jersey in the years to come.