Pioneer tunnel project a lifeline for UK’s endangered adders - Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
A first-of-its-kind project for the UK has created two snake tunnels at Greenham Common to help save endangered native adders
Adder Connections aims to link two isolated populations of adders to secure the species’ survival in one of their last remaining strongholds in West Berkshire. The project has received a £113,000 grant from Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme and will form a best-practice case study.
Greenham and Crookham Commons in Berkshire, managed by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) on behalf of West Berkshire Council, are home to two distinct populations of adders. The land management team discovered that the groups were not mixing after attaching radio tags to some of the adders to track their movements. Results showed that the snakes were unable to cross Old Thornford Road which divides the commons, and so two tunnels were created underneath the road to encourage movement.
With adders listed as a Vulnerable (VU) species, recent scientific studies suggest that only a few of the larger populations could be left in England in 10 years’ time. As small groups are at greater risk, the Adder Connections project aims to form a larger local population with a wider mix of genetics to make them more resistant to potential threats such as disease.
Posted On: 16/05/2024
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