Great crested newts (Triturus cristatus) are protected under European and UK legislation, but are frequently the subject of conflict between development and conservation in England. When this occurs, the developer is legally obliged to instigate a mitigation plan to reduce the impacts on the newts. This usually involves the translocation of newts coupled with habitat enhancement and creation. We reviewed mitigation projects carried out in England between 1990 and 2001 by (1) analysing licensing information collected by the governmental licensing authorities; and (2) a questionnaire survey of a sample of mitigation projects. Over half of the licensed projects on file contained no report of the work undertaken. There was an increase in the number of new translocation projects from less than 10 a year in the early 1990s to over 80 a year by 2000. This translates into about £1.5 million per year currently being spent on great crested newt mitigation projects. Most of these projects involved in situ translocations of newts to areas within or adjacent to the development site. The number of newts translocated per project declined over the same period, and was related to the total area of habitat destroyed and work effort. About 27% of great crested newt terrestrial habitat was destroyed during the developments along with about half of all ponds. Although the number of new ponds created compensated for the number of known great crested newt ponds lost, there was a net loss in terms of overall area of aquatic habitat. Where follow-up monitoring of translocations was conducted, there was evidence of breeding at most sites one-year post-development, but it is unclear whether these populations were sustainable in the long-term.

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Despite occurring widely across Europe and Asia, the Sand lizard Lacerta agilis is threatened in the north‐western part of its range and had disappeared from much of its former habitat in England and Wales prior to concerted conservation action. A breeding population established at Marwell Zoo, UK, contributed to the re‐establishment of 26 populations of Sand lizards at heathland and coastal dune sites across southern England as part of a wider multi‐stakeholder response to reverse the decline of the species. Knowledge about the biology of Sand lizards was accrued during the process, which helped to refine the management of the breeding population that was maintained in a naturalistic setting within the indigenous range of the species. These successes were underpinned by coordinated collaborative actions and long‐term institutional commitments against a backdrop of considerable change in the statutory framework governing Sand lizard conservation. The management of this project was not without cost or risk, including protection of valuable founder stock, incomplete knowledge about the health and disease status of Sand lizards, intrinsic constraints of limited founder representation, and the challenges of monitoring this elusive species post release.

A new species of Cyrtodacylus is described from the island of Seram, Maluku Province, Indonesia. Cyrtodactylus nuaulu sp. nov. can be distinguished from other described Cyrtodactylus by the combination of moderate size, dorsal colouration consisting of relatively few large dark brown blotches, presence of a precloacal groove and whorls of dentate tubercles extending the length of the tail. The new species is the fourth reptile currently known only from Seram and surrounding islands, and the herpetofauna of this area appears to include a small but biogeographically significant endemic component.

In this study, we describe two novel adenoviruses isolated from (i) a common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) found dead and examined post-mortem and (ii) pooled samples from free-living sand lizards (Lacerta agilis agilis). Sequencing indicated the two were closely related atadenovirus strains which were distinct from previously recorded adenoviruses in lizards. Adenoviruses are not always associated with disease in squamates, but morbidity and mortality have been reported. These are the first known cases of adenovirus infection in free-living native British lizards, and further monitoring will be necessary to elucidate the implications of these possible pathogens for vulnerable populations of native reptiles.