IT’S mottled green, only inches long and rarely seen, but Jersey’s agile frog enjoys a level of fame unknown to most amphibians.

Our frog might be far less common than the aptly named common toad – also known as the crapaud – and its name might not have been chosen as a synonym for the entire Jersey race, but it is nevertheless a highly significant creature. More than any other, it symbolises the Island’s efforts to protect and preserve its wildlife and natural habitats.

At Ouaisné Common and at a couple of more secret locations, great pains have been taken to ensure that places where the agile frog can breed successfully are saved for posterity. That work, however, has been complemented – and complemented most effectively – by staff at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Thanks to a three-year captive breeding programme called FrAgile, frog spawn has been collected and incubated in a unit at Durrell funded by the Jersey Ecology Fund. The tadpoles which have emerged have been carefully nurtured and returned to the wild at a suitable stage, boosting their survival rate very considerably.

A measure of the success of this operation is the increase in the numbers of clumps of spawn now being observed in the wild. In 2008 only 29 were counted, but this spring the number had risen to 55.

Although Durrell might most readily be associated with the conservation of species from exotic locations overseas, the comprehensive way in which the agile frog project has been conceived and executed demonstrates the organisation’s concern for native wildlife. It also helps to confirm the extent of its commitment to the Island it calls home.

But although a great deal of the credit for the effectiveness of the FrAgile programme must go to Durrell’s expert staff, no one should lose sight of the work of the volunteers who have spared time and effort to help the professionals. Nor should anyone overlook the contribution made by the companies and other bodies which have supported the drive to save the agile frog and help it to prosper.

Recent years have seen a significant increase in the numbers of red squirrels in the Island, thanks in part to enhancements and extensions of habitats capable of supporting them. Similar results could well be achieved for the agile frog, especially if captive breeding is supported by a drive to find new places where they can be protected and thrive.