The level of commitment in the National Reptile Survey is significant, but not too off-putting we hope. Volunteers will each be allocated a randomly selected survey square in their Vice County, ideally within 10 km of their home. The survey requires a minimum of three visits to look for reptiles (typically 2-3 hours each), attendance at a preparatory training day, and probably a preparatory visit to your square. The training course will most likely be on a weekend during March or April, from around 10am until 4pm, with an indoor session followed by an outdoor session looking for reptiles. We hope to run training courses in all parts of the country. 

Your initial task will be to familiarise yourself with a map of your 1 km square. Go to the Ordnance Survey’s Get-a-map site to see a map of your square. Once you have oriented yourself with an OS map, the aerial photography facilities provided by Multimap.com or Google Maps will help you assess the habitat areas where reptiles are most likely to occur.

Prior to the actual reptile survey visits, it is likely you will need to visit your survey square, to identify and meet landowners, obtain permissions, and lay refugia if appropriate. (This could count as a survey visit if conditions are appropriate and you obtain relevant permissions). You will need to identify the parts of your square you want to survey, and arrange permission(s) from the landowner(s). We will give official introductory letters for landowners, and advice on how to make this process easier. You can familiarise yourself with the area using public rights of way. Obtaining and transporting refugia can take additional time, but could be as simple as buying a roll of roofing felt or finding some old rubber car mats. Access to a vehicle would be a great help, although not necessarily absolutely essential.

The actual survey visits will focus on the most promising areas of reptile habitat identified. The aim is to try and make sure these represent the best areas of reptile habitat available in the whole square. If you are unable to survey certain areas (e.g. permission was refused), you must note this, and if >50% of your chosen areas couldn’t be surveyed, we will allocate you another square.

You will be taught as much as we expect you to know in the training course, including health and safety procedures, advice on obtaining permissions, identifying reptiles, recognising good habitat, and choosing survey conditions. We will arrange any licensing that is required in areas where rare species may be present. We will offer as much support to volunteers as possible. We will be cooperating closely with the relevant county Amphibian and Reptile Groups (ARGs) to maintain support and contact with and between surveyors, particularly those with little experience.

If you want to take part in the National Reptile Survey, please register your interest here.