Helping adders through citizen science

31 May 2026

Blog by Samuel Betts, Conservation Officer

Over the course of my time working for the North Pennines National Landscape team and researching adders as part of the ‘Adders Up’ project, I have had many positive interactions with members of the public. From petrol stations to the middle of the moors, via emails or on volunteer surveys, I have talked with people about adders.

Through these interactions we have gained many valuable contributions to our knowledge of where adders are in the North Pennines. Some people recall seeing them in their childhood, or coming across one on a path whilst walking, or even seeing them going down the high street. I have found out about adders in locations previously unknown to us. A fond connection has been with a local garden where certain areas have been left wild enough to suit adders and the owner has kindly let us survey and collect genetic samples for our research, alongside great conversations over cups of tea.

I’ve learnt that local knowledge on nature is vast and invaluable but not always shared. Nearly everybody that I have spoken to, when they find out I study adders, has told me a story of seeing an adder. However, very few people have ever recorded these sightings, and this is almost always because they weren’t aware that it was something to do.

Unfortunately, adders are suffering in the UK (and elsewhere), with numbers decreasing severely, and up to 90% of our populations potentially facing extinction by 2032. Knowing where adders are, or where they once were, is critically valuable information.

When we know where they are located, we can do something to help them. We can target conservation efforts to protect or create valuable habitat, work with landowners, and give advice that will benefit other animals as well as adders. We can also survey areas to monitor populations and to investigate historic records to see if adders are still present at a site or to work out why they are not there anymore.

I would like to thank everyone that has kindly, and often excitedly, shared their stories about adders, I have enjoyed each conversation greatly and truly appreciate your time. I would also like to encourage people to submit any records of adders they see or have seen to iRecord, or to email them direct to me. You can make a difference to the conservation of this threatened reptile, and I think that’s truly exciting.

The Adders Up project is led by the North Pennines National Landscape team and funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Northumbrian Water’s Branch Out Fund.