Pool frogs and pingos

Pool frog by Robin Chittenden 1/4

First stage of pingo excavation 2/4

NWT are working with The Woodland Trust and ARC on the Pingos and Pool frog project 3/4

Revealing the original base of the pingo 4/4

We are leading a partnership to protect and expand ancient landscapes in the Brecks to enhance the habitat of the rare northern pool frog.

Thanks to funding from Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, we will work alongside the Woodland Trust and the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC) to make more space for wildlife across connected landscapes. Work will focus on the restoration of ice age ponds, known as ghost pingos – which form ideal conditions for pool frogs.

The northern pool frog, England’s rarest amphibian, was reintroduced to Thompson Common in Norfolk in 2015 – reversing its disappearance from there in the 1990s.

On newly acquired land surrounding Thompson Common, Pool frogs and Pingos will create a tapestry of wildlife habitats to allow the existing pool frog population to spread out and expand.

We are excavating pingos across arable fields on Mere Farm, a 130-acre site that borders Thompson Common. Just over the fence at Green Farm, the Woodland Trust aims to create semi-natural habitat over 300 acres including a native wood and, with the help of the Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme, also restore a series of ghost pingos. ARC will lend their expertise to ensure all the pingos are at peak condition for pool frogs, as well as monitoring the ponds for evidence of the species once established. This will make a significant step towards the restoration of pool frog habitat at a landscape scale – bigger, better and more joined up.

Pool frogs and Pingos builds on 12 years of habitat enhancement, land purchase, neighbouring landowner liaison and the successful translocation of pool frog back to Thompson Common.