Ways to help frogs and toads

Rare frog and toad species in the UK

Two of the UK's four native frog and toad species are already very rare due to habitat loss.

Natterjack toads (Epidalea calamita) are now only present at about 60 sites in Britain, mainly in coastal areas. They need warmer water to breed successfully and usually choose shallow, short-lived pools on sand dunes, heaths and marshes.

Pool frogs (Pelophylax lessonae) are limited to even fewer sites. Presumed extinct in the UK in 1995, they have since been reintroduced at two sites in Norfolk. They prefer damp, densely vegetated areas with slow moving rivers or ponds and marshes.

You may not be able to directly help these species due to their specific habitat requirements, but you can lend your support to charities involved in conservation efforts, such as the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust.

This article focuses on actions you can take to help the two frog and toad species that share our urban spaces. Although they are considered widespread - because they aren't restricted to particular habitats and occur in many different parts of the country - they are still facing serious problems.

Common frog and toad populations

The common frog is found throughout Britain and Ireland, as well as much of Europe, while the common toad also has a large European range but is absent from Ireland.

Common frogs can be found anywhere that is damp enough and has a pond or other body of water nearby. Gardens are a key habitat, but regular sightings reported for the RSPB's garden wildlife survey fell by 17% between 2014 and 2018. Numbers are thought to be declining across Europe.

More dramatically, reports of toads in gardens dropped by nearly a third over the same period and data collected by toad road crossing patrols from more than 150 sites around the UK revealed a 68% decline between 1985 and 2016. Southeast England saw the largest declines.

What is the problem?

The situation is so bad that Countryfile present Kate Bradbury has suggested common toads should be renamed - replacing 'common' with 'declining'.

Speaking to the Telegraph in February 2020, she warned, 'Following a severe reduction in suitable habitat and high mortality on roads, this otherworldly but endearing species has declined in the UK by 68% in the last 30 years. If this continues, we could lose all our common toads by 2030.'

The main challenges for toads are the loss of breeding ponds and disruption of their migration routes by roads, new buildings and property boundaries.

Frogs are also suffering from a reduction in suitable habitat, particularly a lack of ponds, as well as the arrival of two deadly diseases.

Ways to help

The suggested actions below will increase the survival chances of these species. You may not be able to do all of them, but even small changes can make a difference.

1. Add a pond to your garden

Frogs and toads need ponds to breed. Come springtime they will search out somewhere to lay their spawn.

About a third of ponds in the UK have disappeared in the past 50 years. If too many ponds disappear, so will the amphibians that rely on them.

The fall in popularity of garden ponds is a big problem, says Jeff Streicher, Senior Curator in Charge of Amphibians and Reptiles at the Museum:

'Common frogs rely on garden ponds, particularly in urban areas. Including an area of water in your outdoor space is one of the biggest differences you can make to this species. It doesn't have to be large.'

Froglife have produced a great guide to creating and looking after a wildlife pond (Just Add Water) and the Woodland Trust provides some top tips for pond owners to maximise the chances of spawn.

Amphibians prefer to breed in ponds that are at least two metres across. However, frogs and newts often lay spawn in much smaller areas and a pond of any size will help them to keep cool and moist in summer, as well as benefiting other local wildlife. If you have limited space, check out our guide to making a mini pond in a pot and see Froglife's advice on building bog gardens and mini ponds.

When building a new pond, make sure to include gently sloping sides or staggered stones to help animals get out.

Add native plants to the pond and around the edges. Plants provide shelter, shade and keep the water topped up with oxygen. Young tadpoles eat algae.

The best ponds have both shallow and deep areas. Tadpoles will bask in shallow, shelved areas. Adult toads prefer deeper spots. Including a section that's at least 60 centimetres deep will give frogs and toads somewhere to go that's protected from extreme weather.

Frogs sometimes hibernate at the bottom of ponds. They like to bury themselves under soil and debris.

Jeff says, 'Adding a pond is one of the best ways to encourage frogs, toads and newts to come to your garden. Although amphibians often return to areas where they've spawned previously, they will use new ponds - particularly in fragmented aquatic landscapes like London.'

2. Provide piles of rocks, logs and leaves

Outside of the breeding season, common frogs can roam up to 500 metres from a breeding pond. Common toads roam even further, travelling up to five kilometres from their breeding sites.

So even if you don't have a pond and can't add one, there are things you can do to make outdoor spaces better for frogs and toads.

Piles of rocks and logs give frogs and toads spaces to shelter in during winter, opportunities to escape from predators and offer shade in hot summers. Gaps under paving slabs or sheds will too.

They are also great places for frogs and toads to forage in for food. So are tall plants and piles of grass or leaves, which also help amphibians keep cool.

How to make a log pile >

3. Create a compost heap

Full of slugs, worms and other invertebrates, a compost heap is a frog and toad buffet. It can also provide a much-needed warm spot to spend winter in.

Take care not to harm possible amphibian inhabitants when turning your compost heap in winter.

4. Avoid using pesticides and slug pellets

What you may consider an unwanted garden pest is welcome food for frogs and toads.

As well as depriving frogs and toads of a potential food source, the chemicals in pesticides and slug pellets may harm amphibians directly, poisoning them and causing developmental abnormalities.

5. Drive carefully

Many frogs and toads get squashed on roads each year. When driving or cycling, be aware that what you think is a leaf may be a frog or toad.

Traffic is a major cause of death for toads in particular, as they often migrate over large distances to return to ancestral breeding ponds. More and more, they find their routes divided by busy roads or blocked by new buildings, fences or walls. Froglife estimates that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads every year, which equates to at least 250,000 toads.

6. Become a toad patroller

Since toads tend to use the same routes each year, it's possible to identify crossing sites and take action to reduce the number of deaths. Measures include installing toad crossing road signs to warn motorists, building wildlife tunnels under roads or even deploying volunteers to help toads cross roads.

Through their Toads on Roads project, Froglife invites anyone to register toad crossing sites so that the sites become eligible for warning signs or to volunteer with an existing toad patrol.

They are also campaigning for more wildlife tunnels.

You can find your nearest toad crossing via the Froglife website. In 2019 alone, more than 107,000 toads were helped across 210 roads by toad patrols.

7. Supervise your pet cat

Cats are natural predators. When left outdoors unsupervised, many kill frogs and toads.

Based on a study of cat owners conducted in 1997, scientists calculated that the UK's population of nine million cats would have killed around five million reptiles and amphibians - mostly frogs - between the start of April and the end of August. 

Our cat population has since increased to 10.9 million cats, according to a 2019 YouGov survey for pet vet charity PDSA, increasing the risk to amphibians.

8. Report signs of disease

If you see an ill or dead amphibian tell the Garden Wildlife Health project. By doing so, you will help scientists spot outbreaks and monitor the spread of diseases and their impact.

Two amphibian diseases are of particular concern: ranavirus and chytridiomycosis (chytrid for short).

Ranavirus is an often-deadly disease that can kill large numbers of amphibians in a short space of time. It can cause skin sores, blisters, and internal bleeding. Common frogs seem to be most at risk.

Research indicates that climate change is worsening the severity and spread of ranavirus. Zoological Society of London scientists involved in the study suggest that having areas in which to keep cool - such as log piles, vegetation and deeper ponds - could help frogs fight off the infection.

Chytrid is one of the worst panzootics (the animal equivalent of a pandemic) in the world, wiping out many amphibian populations. So far, there have only been limited numbers of cases in the UK, with the first instances reported in 2005. Toads seem most susceptible.

Chytrid is caused by two species of fungi that attack amphibians' skin, disrupting salt and water regulation, often with fatal consequences.

For more information about ranavirus, chytridiomycosis and other diseases affecting UK amphibians, and what symptoms to look out for, visit the Garden Wildlife Health website.

9. Don't move spawn from one pond to another

Transferring spawn between ponds can spread disease as well as invasive pond plants. Frogs and toads are good at finding suitable ponds for themselves.

Jeff concludes, 'Providing safe and inviting habitats for amphibians in our gardens and public spaces not only helps out declining UK wildlife, but also enhances our personal connection to the natural world. Something that is beneficial for our own wellbeing.'