Oh crikey, a newt safari!

  • Published
  • By Martin Thompson
  • 420th Air Base Squadron
RAF FAIRFORD, United Kingdom --  The 420th Air Base Squadron held a great crested newt safari here April 22 to celebrate Earth Day. 

Earth Day was established in 1970 to mobilize more than 20 million Americans to get involved in environmental teach-ins. Today, it's a worldwide event and has been replicated in World Environment Day, June 5, as declared by the United Nations.

As the squadron's civil engineer operations chief, I suggested escorting base personnel to view a great crested newt breeding pond. Lt. Col. R.J. Price, 420th ABS commander, agreed and initiated a viewing by command staff.

Having watched in awe of the great crested newt site, a greatly enthused commander suggested a more formal event for U.S., UK personnel and their dependants should be arranged. The safari party agreed to dinner at the community activity center, a simple briefing on great crested newts and then a viewing of the newts. As the evening progressed, they continued on their safair with a twilight look at two relocation breeding ponds and hibernacula created as the conservation translocation areas for great crested newt habitat significantly impacted by the airfield redevelopment works back in 2000. The impact of human development on the habitat of the newts and what mitigation processes were needed would be part of the Earth Day conservation awareness theme.

In one area, there was a large population of great crested newts in its water tank. The emergency water storage unit is a 30,000 gallon concrete inverted pyramidal shape tank, and although the natural bodies of water did not possess the aquatic vegetation associated, its steep concrete slopes and lack of natural predators welcomed the newts to utilize it when extending out from their existing territories. The facility when surveyed in 2000 had only three great crested newts visually identified in a night survey. However, a night survey in April 2006 resulted in several hundred great crested newts being observed, too many to accurately count!

Perhaps the three main reasons for the population explosion, was the construction of a rock ring in 2002 providing preferential hibernacula for the population, the introduction of polyethylene pom-poms to replicate aquatic vegetation the great crested newts could lay their eggs on, and the fact that natural predators such as the heron and fish were excluded from the site by its construction and isolation from natural water sources.

The development of the rock ring was also crucial to minimizing the impact on both the operational airfield grass cutting requirements and the Royal International Air Tattoo. Because the radius around the ponds may have potentially established with restrictions imposed to protect the GCN habitat., it might have limited grass cutting (a significant impact on flight safety from birds being attracted into the area by tall grass and nesting sites) and restrictions on general access for the air show for public showground activities. The rock ring was accepted by the UK regulatory bodies and constructed with the consequential positive conservation value as shown by the population increase.

The translocation ponds were constructed involving forming puddle clay linings to the excavations, construction of newt hibernacula, planting appropriate aquatic vegetation, installing newt fences, capturing under license the amphibian population on the emergency water storage to be removed, and then removing the water from the storage tank and transferring that into the ponds to provide some home water quality for the relocated residents. Anti-wild fowl and heron string webs were also established to prevent premature predation. Over time these translocation populations have substantial fluctuated but remain as a healthy number but not in the same numbers as we find in the emergency water storage tank.

Respecting the presence of the great crested newt, the RIAT site services team install Herras fencing around the water storage site to prevent any unwanted public or show support personnel impacting on the water storage contents or the identified hibernacula. At the time of the show the eggs will be mostly hatched in the tadpole or larvae stage and in the various stages of metamorphism in the water. The mature adult males and females will have left the water and be in the terrestrial habitat around the water body. So watch your step!

The great crested newt are subject to legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1961 (and amendments) and the Conservation Regulations 1994, which make it a criminal offence to intentionally capture or kill a great crested newt as well as damaging or destroying its breeding site or resting place.