Have you seen an adder?

Posted by Claire Maxted on 27/04/2024

Worryingly, small adder populations could be extinct by 2032 unless we act now to help conserve them. The North Pennines National Landscape are asking BMC members to help them record sightings these native UK snakes to better understand their distribution and improve conservation efforts. Their Adders Up project started in February 2024 and will run for three years, hoping to achieve positive outcomes for the conservation of this enigmatic and threatened reptile.

To contribute to the Adders Up project, simply submit records of adders, or any other reptiles and amphibians you see in the North Pennines National Landscape, to iRecord. This is a free, easy-to-use online or app-based platform to upload wildlife sighting records of all types from all over the UK without having to set-up an account. Please try not to disturb any wild animals by not taking close up pictures, keeping dogs on leads and not touching them. Thank you.

BMC members, we need YOU!

Henry Barrett, Conservation Officer for the North Pennines National Landscape says, “One of the key issues for any conservation effort is the lack of baseline data. For adders a lot of our citizen science data comes from easily accessible places, for example around reservoirs, population centres, and known walking hotspots. However, adders absolutely love less disturbed places, sunny, rocky, like the fine Pennine gritstone outcrops and limestone quarries, making hillwalkers and climbers in an exceptional position to contribute to the project in the less well-travelled parts of the North Pennines.

“Adders Up was partially inspired by a recent citizen science project, ‘Make the Adder Count’ (Gardner et al. 2019) which monitored 260 adder Vipera berus sites across the UK and suggested that small adder populations could all be extinct by 2032. We aim to establish a more robust data set showing where adders are in the North Pennines, and to work with local community groups, students, visitors and landowners to raise awareness about their threatened position. Another target of the project is to stimulate strategic habitat management and creation works (particularly in areas around or between known populations of adders), to create opportunities for isolated populations to extend their range – improving landscape-scale population resilience.”

BMC Access & Conservation Officer (England) Jon Fullwood says, “This is an area where climbers and hill walkers can provide a vital and unique insight into the distribution of a nationally vulnerable and threatened species.

“BMC members represent a lot of sets of eyes and could provide a great contribution to this initiative. I’ve downloaded the app, on which you can record any wildlife sightings, not just adders, and have really enjoyed adding my bit to the collective record.”

Download the iRecord app here

Or use it online here