Conservationists battling to save lizards in Montrose will today walk in front of diggers when excavation work begins on a £229,000 cycle path.
Trevor Rose of Friends of Angus Herpetofauna will be on the site in Kinnaber along with ecologist Carol Littlewood, ranger George Addison and Sally Young from Angus Council.
He said, “We are being allowed to monitor the process in the hope of finding some more lizards. After that our task is complete.
“I do think some of the resident lizards will have removed themselves due to the disturbance so far, which is good. There are certainly a lot less sightings now than before.
“One fear though is that the lizards may have been exposed to crows, rooks and other predators, but we are mostly theorising since we can’t be on the ground full-time to monitor the situation.
“I do think we have been successful in terms of raising awareness to Angus Council, and influencing the route of the path to some extent.
“Less successful has been the actual capture and relocation of lizards, but we had not expected great success with such short notice.”
The path and cycleway stretches from Montrose to the Northwater Viaduct to create an off-road route for cyclists and pedestrians.
The path will begin in Broomfield, Montrose, and be incorporated into land at the former airfield and land at Kinnaber before joining on to the path at the southern end of the viaduct.
From the north end of the viaduct, the cycleway will follow the public road to St Cyrus to become part of the Sustrans national cycle route and North Sea Cycle Route.
Mr Rose added, “Partly good news is that the new path itself will be based towards the west of the old railway embankment, rather than along the centre.
“This means only the gorse to the west facing side of the embankment will be removed, leaving a strip of gorse to the east facing side untouched.
“It seems our efforts are at least influencing what happens with the site, so many thanks again for your involvement which has been key to persuading Angus Council that there is an issue needing addressed.”
Kinnaber Moor is a site of around 200 hectares with populations of common lizards throughout.
As common lizards are protected against intentional killing and injuring, the council were obliged to accommodate mitigation measures.
A council ranger was recruited by the local authority to lay refugia on the proposed construction site a strip approximately 500m long and 10m wide.