Minister for Wildlife, Joan Ruddock, has announced the provision of legal protection for a rare frog with a distinctive accent.
From October 1, 2008, the pool frog, together with the lesser whirlpool ram's-horn snail and the Fisher's estuarine moth, will be legally protected through the Habitats Regulations from being killed, taken, injured, disturbed, owned or sold, or having their resting or breeding places destroyed.
The pool frog has a long British history, with archaeological investigations revealing evidence from around 1000AD, with pool frog remains found around old Saxon sites in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. However, the last pool frog died in the 1990s after its populations declined to just one site in Norfolk.
A partnership led by Natural England and The Herpetological Conservation Trust helped reintroduce the pool frog to a secret site in Norfolk three years ago, where targeted habitat restoration has produced ideal conditions. Frogs were imported from Sweden under special permission.
Joan Ruddock said: "Working in harmony with nature is becoming more and more important as increasing demands are made on our environment. The UK's native species need our support, and I hope today's announcement will help give the pool frog a secure future."
Natural England's amphibian specialist, Jim Foster, said: "It is vitally important to have this kind of protection in place for the pool frog before we could consider reintroducing them to new ponds in other parts of East Anglia.
"Early signs are encouraging that the pool frogs are settling in to the current release site. However, it will be several years before we can confidently assess the success of this reintroduction."
