CGO Ecology is pleased to hear that two new local ARG groups have been set up for the counties of Nottinghamshire and Hertfordshire. The national network of local voluntary groups is the backbone of herp recording and conservation in the UK.

Dorset Amphibian and Reptile Network (DARN) now has a Facebook group. Join the group and add any herp-related news or suggestions, or contact us to be added to the DARN email circulation list. DARN will also have a website soon, thanks to funding from Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK) and the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC). It should be up and running within a few weeks. The website will have an online recording function (with data passed on to ARC and DERC in due course). In the meantime, continue to use the Facebook group to post your herp photos, comments, suggestions, news and other items.

On a recent trip to Turkey, CGO Ecology's Chris Gleed-Owen visited the DEKAMER research and rehabilitation centre at Iztuzu Beach in Turkey. Situated behind an important turtle nesting beach near Dalyan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, DEKAMER rescues injured marine turtles and nurses them back to health. Most of the turtles are loggerheads, but green turtles and the occasional leatherback are known from the area.

The UK's two main herpetofauna charities - Froglife and The Herpetological Conservation Trust (the HCT) - have today merged to form a single new charity called 'Amphibian and Reptile Conservation’. Traditionally, Froglife focused its efforts on awareness and public campaigns, whereas the HCT's emphasis was on rare species conservation and managing 80 nature reserves.

The Dorset Amphibian and Reptile Network (DARN) is a communication and action network set up to further the conservation of native amphibians and reptiles in the county of Dorset. Membership is by inclusion on an email circulation list, and the group is run by volunteers.