Rewilding: Can Britain’s long lost tree frogs bounce back?

Small colonies of escaped pets already live in Devon and Hampshire, but conservationists hope to re-establish populations of the small amphibians hundreds of years after they died out in the wild

One of conservationist Derek Gow’s European tree frogs (Derek Gow)

It’s small, it’s green, it’s noisy, and it’s extinct in Britain, but could the diminutive tree frog be set for a return after several centuries absence?

Though they are common across Europe including in northern France, tree frogs have disappeared from the UK, and some conservationists would like to help restore the species to the trees, bushes and wetlands where they are missing.

It is not known exactly how they were lost, though centuries-long efforts to drain wetlands, where the frogs breed is believed to have severely reduced numbers.

Derek Gow, a conservationist who has been involved with the successful effort to bring beavers back to England for the first time in 400 years, is among many people in the UK who keep and breed tree frogs, and hopes they can be reintroduced.

At his farm in Devon he currently has six tree frogs, and is hoping to soon take delivery of four more.

“They’re quite widely kept as pets. It so happened a colleague of mine in Sheffield was breeding them, and he asked if I wanted these baby ones. I’d never kept them before, but I have a south-facing porch on my house, where I set up some big vivaria, and they’ve done really really well,” he told The Independent.

The extinction in the UK of the tree frogs was not well documented in Britain at the time, and experts have instead turned to historical records for descriptions of the tree frogs in the country.

One of the key records of tree frogs in England comes from the polymath Sir Thomas Browne, who wrote of “the little frog of an excellent Parrat green, that usually sits on Trees and Bushes, and is therefore called Ranunculus viridis, or arboreus”.

Mr Gow suggested the sound the tree frog makes could be partly responsible for this description: “They’re very very noisy. If you’re looking at something which attracts the attention of someone 400 years ago, it’s because they’re looking at the noisiest frog in Europe.”

The frogs are known for their “dawn chorus”, in which their bright burblings sound almost like toy motorboats.

As reintroductions of species have increasingly gained ground in the UK, it could be down to the return of one species which could help the provide the habitats needed for tree frogs to thrive again.

Beavers are regarded as “ecosystem engineers” due to their damming activities which rapidly create pools of water and the conditions which allow a plethora of species to thrive.

The draining of the UK’s once extensive wetlands has been an ecological disaster, but the return of beavers across England and Scotland means pockets of land are again suitable for numerous amphibious species.

“When we look at the landscape we live in and we see these green fields marching on everywhere and the hedgerows, we all think it’s normal. It’s not normal at all. If you speak to an Eastern European, they will tell you that every time you cross a ridge in the land and look down at the valley below, the first thing you will see are the vast wetlands. And we’ve drained them all - every single one - because we wanted all of that land for farming, housing and whatever other purposes. We near completely destroyed all these wetlands, to the point that we can’t even remember how vast they were,” Mr Gow said.

Though the tree frogs need wetlands to breed, they then take to the shrubs, trees and bushes of scrubland to catch insects - another type of environment in short supply in Britain.

But despite this, Mr Gow believes tree frogs can still thrive without extensive wetlands, though he suggests they could help kick start the “aspiration to change the landscape”.

And anyway, he claims, there are people across southern Britain “letting these things go left, right and centre”.

“There already are colonies of tree frogs in the New Forest, in Torquay and other locations which are doing, as far as anyone’s aware, perfectly well.”

“So to stick your head in the sand and say ‘oh we can’t do this’, well, it’s already happening, but it’s a case of whether you want to do it properly and for good ecological reasons, or whether you want to stand moaning with your hands in your pockets and let it drift on past you.”

“It’s a bloody frog for god’s sake, at the end of the day we’re not asking people to accept raging herds of elephants from Berkshire to Devon. We’re just asking to reintroduce a frog.”

Professor Alastair Driver, director of Rewilding Britain told The Independent: “In nature-depleted Britain, we’ve lost a wide array of native species.

“Carefully considered reintroduction of those now missing – which includes the right consultation, ensuring enough suitable habitat, and alongside increased action to protect species still here but also facing extinction – can play a key role in rewilding and helping nature heal itself.

“The eventual return of the common tree frog would repair one more hole in our shredded ecosystems, make nature that little bit less broken, and return some of the wonder that's now sadly missing from our natural world.”

A Defra spokesperson told The Independent: “As part of the 25 Year Environment Plan the government will provide opportunities for the reintroduction of formerly native species, where there are clear environmental and socio-economic benefits.

“Any application to reintroduce a formerly native species would have to comprehensively demonstrate the benefits of such a release and how any potential impacts would be managed.”