The British Herpetological Society has announced production of 'Amphibian Gullypot Ladders'. Finally an elegant way to prevent avoidable amphibian deaths has come onto the market, and the BHS is welcoming pre-orders from local authorities, conservation NGOs, ecological consultancies, and anyone else who might be interested.

The Great Crested Newt (GCN) Task Force is an initiative instigated by Defra a couple of years ago, with the aim of improving intelligence on GCN status in the UK, whilst supporting the sustainable development agenda. There are several parallel workstreams, each involving a committee to deliberate and progress aspects of policy and capacity that need improvement. One workstream is defining Favourable Reference Values (FRVs) for example, so that we know what conservation goals we should be aiming for, nationally and locally.

We came across this interesting European agricultural nugget on CIEEM's ePolicy update this week: "Communicating biodiversity to farmers: developing the right tools."

World Animal Protection (formerly the World Society for the Protection of Animals) has been in the press in the past week. They published a report revealing the extent of wildlife crime in the UK – from badger baiting, bats and birds being disturbed, to the illegal trade of endangered species. The report includes recommendations for how UK Government could better support the enforcement agencies working to tackle these crimes.

Yesterday a range of news sources reported that a Dorset badger cull is "looking increasingly likely", paraphrasing the words of Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill. The BBC, the Daily Telegraph, the Dorset Echo were among those reporting the story.