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Amphibian Steward Network |
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 Amphibians are facing unprecedented perils in their 370 million year history on Earth. At least one third of the more than 6,000 known species of amphibians are believed to be suffering critical declines or have recently gone completely extinct. The reasons for these declines are many, but one thing is clear: amphibians are disappearing far faster than traditional conservation methods can be implemented to save them.
For this reason, a monumental effort is underway to establish the most critically endangered amphibians in captive breeding programs so they may someday be returned to the wild when the threats to their existence have been resolved. Success depends on pooling as many resources as possible to work toward the common goal of securing a place in the future for our planet’s amphibians. The Amphibian Steward Network is but one part of this larger collective effort. The Amphibian Steward Network (ASN) was developed to address two important goals: - Eliminate the unsustainable harvest of amphibians from the wild.
- Support the protection and restoration of critically threatened amphibian populations in the wild through captive management and propagation.
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Saving amphibians can start in your own backyard!
The alluring sight and sound of water in the home landscape has made water gardening one of the fastest growing segments of home gardening. Millions of people are enjoying ornamental ponds and watercourses at their homes at a time when frogs, toads, and other amphibians are facing declines due to loss of breeding habitat. Tree Walkers International has launched Operation Frog Pond to put the popularity of home water gardening to work for amphibian conservation. The goal of Operation Frog Pond is to create high quality habitat for amphibians where they need it most by promoting the establishment of amphibian-friendly ornamental ponds and wetlands. |
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In the western hemisphere, thirty-nine percent of amphibians are threatened with extinction. From southern Mexico to the tip of South America, amphibian losses equivalent to those of the dinosaurs are taking place. Never in the history of humanity have we have witnessed first-hand such massive, global extinctions.  For our children, photographs may serve as the only testament to species which have coexisted with us for generations – the familiar nighttime chorus of croaking frogs silenced for ever. Sadly, many of these species may be lost from our collective memory if we do not actively work to document them immediately through video. Many of the things that are dying we cannot save; we must document them to the best of our ability while they still walk this earth. For those species that can be saved, we must raise awareness in a compelling yet scientifically rigorous way. The aim of Operation Atelopus is to tell the tale of one such group of animals through film, a species teetering on the brink of extinction, the Neotropical toad genus Atelopus, also known as harlequin frogs. |
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