§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his efforts in the last three months to establish the extent of the changes in the population of frogs and other amphibians over the last decade; and if he will detail the effect on frogs of habitat loss and pesticides.
§ Mr. TrippierThe Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) has commissioned Leicester Polytechnic to undertake an inquiry to provide information on the current status of widespread species of amphibians and reptiles.
Provisional information shows that the status of the frog has continued to improve during the 1980s; it has increased in seven of the NCC's regions and not changed appreciably in the other eight. The crested newt has done least well of the species studied, but the rate of decline has slowed. The toad, the smooth newt and the palmate newt have more or less held their own nationally during the 1980s.
In instances where frog numbers had declined, and where the reasons for decline were given, 88 per cent. of correspondents mentioned habitat loss. Nobody specifically mentioned pesticides.