Vanessa Barber, Froglife London Dragon Finder Project Manager
Common Lizard © Chloë Smith
Froglife is a UK wildlife charity committed to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles. Their ‘Dragon Finder’ app was developed and launched as part of the London Dragon Finder project, an ambitious city wide amphibian and reptile conservation project that included practical habitat restoration work, and educational outreach activities. The Dragon Finder app unites these two areas of work, by equipping everyone the project meets and works with, with a free and easy tool to identify and record amphibians and reptiles across the UK.
GiGL’s involvement in the project is fundamental to the legacy of the London Dragon Finder project. Froglife’s service level agreement with GiGL maximises the impact of the data collected via the app in the capital. It provides a platform through which Froglife can share the data collected with others, and add to existing species records for London. The data will add to records of designated protected species such as the Great Crested Newt, as well as invasive non-native species that have potential to impact on populations of native species.
It takes approximately three minutes for the sightings data to reach the London Dragon Finder team. Each month Froglife’s team ‘clean up’ the data, and remove anything that is obviously erroneous. These records are sorted and sent to GiGL annually. GiGL then make the records accessible to both the public and to partner organisations allowing Froglife and other interested groups to make informed planning decisions, and to target conservation efforts in London with greater precision.
The Dragon Finder app is available on iPhone and Android, with a mobile website available for other devices. For more information please visit www.froglife.org/dragon-finder-app
Contact Vanessa Barber Vanessa.barber@froglife.org. 07588755272.
Vanessa Barber has worked for Froglife on the London Dragon Finder project since its inception in October 2012. She is particularly inspired by the app as a way for anybody, professional or novice, to get involved in the conservation of amphibians and reptiles. And to add to the long term data sets of these fascinating species.