What is Being Done to Protect Herptiles in Scotland, 2025?

The time is now to conserve and protect endemic Scottish Herptile species as more and more disappear every year.

Saving Scotland's Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAAR) project are trying to do just that. They are an extension of the trust - Amphibians and Reptiles Conservation (ARC).

The Mission

The SSAAR project has four overall aims:

• To encourage a greater understanding of our amphibian and reptile populations, by training and supporting citizen scientists across Scotland!

• To raise public awareness of the conservation needs of Scotland’s amphibians and reptiles and their habitats, and help to promote better understanding that safeguards their future.

• To promote community relationships, personal wellbeing and life opportunities by providing chances for people to engage as project volunteers, allowing them to gain new skills and knowledge.

• To work with land managers, partners and other stakeholders to protect, restore or create habitat features to allow our amphibians and reptiles to thrive in Scotland.

What's the Damage?

Each of the 10 Herptiles living in Scotland's unforgiving climate should be enough of a burden to bear. However, there are a number of reasons why lower populations are being found in our ponds and heathlands.

Moorland Landscape

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) state on their website that "these resilient creatures are under threat from habitat loss and degradation, pollution, the spread of disease and the impacts of climate change." Namely, the adder, the common lizard and the slow-worm have decreased more than double in distribution numbers at some sites around Scotland between 1992-2024.

A study in 2024 for the Glasgow Naturalist showed that "in addition, despite some changes in attitudes by humans, adders are still sometimes deliberately killed, even though this is illegal, further diminishing already small and fragmented populations. Adders also appear to be sensitive to repeated disturbance by recreational site users and photographers (Baker et al., 2004)."

Vipera Berus Common European Adder in-situ

Not All Doom and Gloom

On a positive note, the study also found "that adders were observed at comparable or even greater numbers at eight sites (seven of the original sites surveyed in 1992-93) but "the apparent loss of adders at three of the original sites, and the major declines observed at Site 15 in the Scottish Borders should be a cause for concern."

We can all contribute to the cause as a community with specialised habitats in our gardens to accommodate the native species. Volunteering is also an option and there are opportunities to do so through ARC: https://customervoice.microsoft.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=hcfOam_Yw0ifxE56K7lOTQ0p3QjL9tVGjC6wOpdtI4BURUhDNjZYVEIwQURBTVdJWk8zVklSRkNZTS4u

Participating in a workshops across the country such as Angus Herpetofauna's amphibian ID and conservation or MYM's (Make Your Mark) talk about ARC's work in Scotland. We can help by educating ourselves on herptile conservation and provide a bright future for the survival of these animals.

Bibliography

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. (2021). Saving Scotland’s Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAAR). [online] Available at: https://www.arc-trust.org/saving-scotlands-amphibians-and-reptiles [Accessed 26 Nov. 2025].

Julian, A.M., Langham, S.J., R. Cooper-Bohannon, Raynor, R., Whatley, C., Foster, J. and McKinnell, J. (2024). An overview of the Scottish National Adder Survey 2022-24. 28(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.37208/tgn28221.

Baker, J., Suckling, J. & Carey, R. (2004). Status of the adder Vipera berus and slow-worm Anguis fragilis in England. English Nature Research Report 546. English Nature, Peterborough