2016-10-13 10:53 - Anje Rautenbach
All over the world the numbers of frogs are rapidly declining due to natural and man-made threats such as urban development, pollution and wetland drainage for agricultural expansions.
Frogs are one of the most threatened groups of species on earth and these amphibian creatures are bio-indicators providing researchers with a wealth of information about the health of the environment.
To raise awareness to the importance and heritage of frogs, South African National Parks (SANPARKS) is calling on the public to share their encounters and feelings towards these slippery, squeaky jumpers in an online survey.
'Take frogging to the next level'
The survey aims to gather information that will be used as an ecotourism guideline to establish frog-relatedactivities at national parks and nature reserves. There are opportunities within South Africa’s big frog diversity to take “frogging” – a term used by wildlife enthusiasts to describe the activity of searching for wild frogs” – to the next level through providing educational activities to the public.
SANParks, in association with AACRG (African Amphibian Conservation Research Group), EWT (Endangered Wildlife Trust), TREES (Tourism Research in Economic Environs & Society) and NWU (North-West University), encourages the public to answer the online survey.
It is as easy one, two, three, click; take the leap, jump on board and “frog” - Click here!
'30% of SA frog species threatened'
In South Africa 30% of our frog species are threatened with extinction and when frogs are disappearing it is a red warning sign for our global ecosystem.
One of South Africa’s frogs facing extinction and listed as endangered is the Reed Frog (Hyperolius pickersgilli) that hails from Kwazulu-Natal.
In June 2016, Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa, issued a proposal for a Biodiversity Management Plan to protect the Reed Frog and change its conservation status to “Least Concern”. The frog is endemic to a small strip of the coastline and with only 10% of its natural habitat officially protected industrial development plays a big role in the Pickersgill Reed Frog’s decline in numbers.
In the end, less frogs means more mosquitoes, so frog’s sakes, fill in the survey and become part of South Africa’s “frogging” future.
