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The Island’s Green lizards are going national tonight – starring in BBC One’s The One Show and could help boost visitor numbers this summer.
Local expert Chris Perkins guided the BBC’s ecologist and wildlife presenter Mike Dilger around the Island last month to try and capture the elusive reptiles on camera at some of their known sites.
Tourism director David de Carteret said: “The natural environment is one of our key attractions for visitors. Having exposure on this popular prime time BBC programme gives us an excellent opportunity to reinforce this message, showing that islanders are dedicated to preserving it. We are coming into a very busy time for the tourism season so the timing could not be better.”
Jersey is the only place in the British Isles with a native population of green lizards but they have become increasingly threatened in recent years and numbers of them have declined because of pollution, drainage and furze fires. They are also preyed upon by cats and birds.
The Environment department and Jersey Amphibian and Reptile Group have been working since 2006 to protect them and make sure they don't disappear altogether.
You can see the feature between 7 and 7.30 pm.
Picture credit: Adrian Ellis
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