A novel approach to supporting amphibian conservation in the Southeast US.

The current U.S. administration has de-prioritized wildlife and habitat conservation, and has backed away from the global discussion on finding solutions to the climate change crises. There are discussions around the status of the U.S. Endangered Species Act, potentially dismantling it, but many species do not have time to wait for these discussions to shift or end. Action is needed now. This is a grim situation at the national level and many organizations—including Atlanta’s Amphibian Foundation (AF)—are hard at work continuing to support much-needed conservation efforts.

In 2016, after 20 years in amphibian biology and conservation, I, with my wife Crystal founded the Amphibian Foundation. We have observed the urgency first hand — at the global level and at home. It is harder for our 11 year old son Anthony to simply go outside and find a frog than it was for us when we were young. We knew that the amphibian community would benefit from an organization with the sole purpose of developing on-the-ground solutions to the amphibian extinction crisis. Working with a growing list of passionate partners, AF focuses on the conservation of many imperiled species native to the southeastern U.S.

Crystal Mandica, Amphibian Foundation Co-founder and Director of Critter Camp showing off a tortoise to campers at West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA).

Several years before AF, we started a summer camp at our son’s school focusing on amphibians and reptiles. We called this camp — Critter Camp, and it started as a program to get kids excited about these fascinating animals. This science-based educational experience is now offered throughout the summer and during school-year breaks.

The hands-on aspect of Critter Camp fosters respect for amphibians and reptiles, provides a better understanding of the animals, and sparks fascination of these unique and often imperiled creatures. Each summer, many of the same children return, and some of our instructors are former campers. We just finished our fifth year of Critter Camp, and this summer engaged over 330 campers at six different locations, and trained 22 instructors to aid in getting kids pumped about amphibians, reptiles, and conservation.

Besides having a great time, we are slowly raising an army of young conservationists. When you talk with kids about endangered species, they really get it. They still have their priorities straight and want to help. We provide many other educational programs for them to continue their learning, as well as opportunities to get into the field and help AF staff survey for amphibians.

AF understood from the beginning that in order to make any significant advancements in amphibian conservation, everyone needs to get involved. As you may have guessed, that certainly means introducing different people to their very first salamander! It can be impossible to get people excited about protecting animals or habitats that they know very little about, but something changes after meeting a salamander. Many people now recognize that we should work to keep these charming, slimy underdogs around.

To broaden our potential impact, we offer scholarships to Critter Camp so that any child who wants to attend can join the fun, regardless of background and finances. This opportunity is provided by working closely with the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy (ARC), the national Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation’s (PARC) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Team, and the U.S. Forest Service.

This Tiger Salamander named Louie has been a true ambassador for amphibians, and inspired many people to get pumped for salamanders.

While we do offer many programs for adults, parents of our campers were getting jealous and asking why we don’t offer an adult version of Critter Camp. This year, Crystal and I started ‘Critters & Cabernet’ — a monthly casual learning (and extremely hands-on) experience for adults (Reptiles and Alcohol, What Could Go Wrong?). Through these programs, AF connects with people of all ages and backgrounds to help our amphibian friends.

Critter Camp’s growing success has provided major support of our conservation research initiatives, as we tie together two fundamental pieces of our mission statement: To connect people, communities, and organizations in order to create and implement lasting solutions to the global amphibian extinction crisis. Critter Camp still follows the original recipe for success: Monday is Salamander Day, Tuesday is Frogs, then Turtles, Lizards and Friday is Snake Day. Each week there is at least one camper who swears on Monday they will never hold a snake, and then by Friday have discovered it is their favorite thing in the world ...

… and that is Critter Camp’s true metric for success.

This article was originally published in the September newsletter for Southeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (SEPARC)