Creating artificial ponds tailored to natterjack toad breeding requirements has proven highly effective at establishing new populations and recovering declining ones.
Artificial pond creation for natterjack toads provides direct welfare benefits by increasing the number of suitable breeding sites available to a highly restricted population. The species' specific requirements for shallow, warm, fishless water mean that even small management interventions — creating a scrape of the right dimensions in suitable habitat — can transform an area from unusable to productive breeding habitat. Successful colonisation of new ponds increases the overall population size and reduces the risk that a single catastrophic event could eliminate a whole population. Active habitat management transforms the welfare prospects for this genuinely threatened species.