Special Mention: The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), Threatened Amphibian Programme

It may be only 2.5cm long, but as a focal beneficiary of the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Threatened Amphibian Programme, the Pickersgill’s Reed Frog has had massive impact on the local community living in the Adam’s Mission and iSipingo areas, the natural habitat of the endangered amphibian.

“When we started the project in 2013, the species was Critically Endangered and known only in a handful of wetland sites in coastal KwaZulu-Natal,” says programme manager Dr Jeanne Tarrant. “The aim of our project was to implement on-the-ground species-specific conservation work; develop and implement a science-driven management and monitoring plan for the species; secure its threatened habitat; improve climate resilience and promote positive social change through education, employment and citizen science.”

To date their work has included the identification of 25 natural habitat sites (up from eight in 2008), the development of a Biodiversity Management Plan for the Pickersgill’s Reed Frog (which was approved by Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa in May 2017) and a tangible social impact on the surrounding communities through engagement and freshwater protection. This includes the removal of over 500 hectares of alien vegetation and the skills development of 65 people, who are now employed in the ongoing implementation of a Working for Water project.

Amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates on earth, with half of the known 7 000 species experiencing population declines. Habitat loss and modification due to agriculture, urban development and natural system modifications are the main causes of these declines. South Africa is home to approximately 125 frog species, of which one-third are threatened.

“Our aim is to secure 30% (approximately 360 hectares) of the total Pickersgill’s Reed Frog population through habitat protection and improved management,” says Tarrant. “Presently 707 hectares, mostly within an urban setting, have been earmarked for habitat protection and are set to be proclaimed as protected environments by 2019 through working with local communities and landowners.”