 |
|
|
Advice needed: |
| Author | Message |
|
Petervac Member Joined: 27 May 2009 No. of posts: 2  View other posts by Petervac |
Posted: 27 May 2009 first post, i live in northern ireland, theres a pond behind my home that is full of frog"s / newts (i find hundreds of them in my garden) , sandy coloured newts im not to sure wich type they are, ? anyway ive just heard that planning has went through, to build house over the pond. what do i do ? any help would be app |
|
wellies101 Member Joined: 04 Dec 2008 No. of posts: 14 View other posts by wellies101 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2009 I would say first step is to identify what species of newt you have and how big the population is. |
|
Iowarth Admin Group Joined: 12 Apr 2004 No. of posts: 222 View other posts by Iowarth |
Posted: 17 Jun 2009 Hi Peter So far as I am aware, the Smooth Newt is the only species of newt found in Northern Ireland. Assuming this is correct, there is recent legislation (Habitats Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 and amendment 2007) arising from the UK's need to comply with European Protected Species legislation. Under this legislation the Smooth Newt in Ireland is protected against "killing, injuring, taking or keeping" and it is illegal to damage or destroy its habitat. In practice, of course, all of these things ARE allowable under license but, certainly in the mainland, where a protected species is found then some sort of rescue/mitigation would (should) be required under the planning consent. A summary of the full legislation, together with some links can be found at http://www.herpconstrust.org.uk/new_hab_directive_2007_NI.ht m . It may be worth contacting the local authority responsible for the planning consent pointing all of this out. It may even be possible that the landowner/planning authority is not aware that the newts are present or that the destruction of them or their habitat would be an offence - but if approaching them, this should be done diplomatically. If all else fails, the local press are often only too eager to take up such a cause. Others with more experience with this sort of problem can probably offer even more advice. Hope this helps Chris Chris Davis, Site Administrator Co-ordinator, Sand Lizard Captive Breeding Programme |
|
Petervac Member Joined: 27 May 2009 No. of posts: 2 View other posts by Petervac |
Posted: 18 Jun 2009 thank you for your replys, they are smooth newts, ive only found female newts i think ? how do i tell if its a male ? |
|
Iowarth Admin Group Joined: 12 Apr 2004 No. of posts: 222 View other posts by Iowarth |
Posted: 18 Jun 2009 Hi Peter If you look at our identification pages there are pictures of both sexes of Smooth newt (link here). I still seem to have quite a few male newts still in the pond with a prominent crest. Even in their terrestrial stage though the males are easily distinguishable by the pronounced swelling beneath the base of the tail. Certainly very identifiable if you can see several of them to allow comparison. All the best Chris Chris Davis, Site Administrator Co-ordinator, Sand Lizard Captive Breeding Programme |
- Advice needed |