The Irish Peatland Conservation Council is asking you to ‘Hop to It’ in 2026 by sharing your common frog observations to support a greater understanding of the distribution and populations of this much-loved species across Ireland.
Many people in Ireland carry vivid memories of early childhood encounters with frogs; whether because of an unexpected hop that was too close for comfort, or the surround-sound croaking emanating from a pond during the breeding season.
Such encounters, although often personally exciting, educational and potentially formative regarding developing a connection with the natural world, may seem incidental in the broader scheme of things. However, we now know that these individual encounters can contribute to so much more
By capturing small pieces of information, many people together can create powerful datasets that help scientists understand the environment, track changes over time, and support better decision-making for nature and biodiversity. This is why the Irish Peatlands Conservation Council, is seeking the public’s help to paint a clearer picture of how frogs are faring across Kilkenny.
This is a citizen science initiative that asks members of the public to record and submit their observations of the various stages of the common frog lifecycle. You might be wondering why? While easily recognised and well known, the common frog is Ireland’s only frog species and despite its name the common frog (Rana temporaria) is listed as a vulnerable species across Europe.
To help protect the populations of the common frog in Europe and at home, today the common frog is a legally protected species under the European Union Habitats Directive and the Irish Wildlife Act. The common frog is considered a biological indicator of environmental health as their smooth moist skin is very sensitive to pollution and the presence or absence of frogs in an area can tell us a lot about our environment. Annually monitoring the distribution and population of the Common Frog across Ireland supports our national efforts to protect the common frog and understand our local environment quality.
Bernadette Moloney, the Biodiversity Officer with Kilkenny County Council is supporting the Irish Peatland Conservation Council campaign, in 2025 there were no recordings submitted for county Kilkenny, does that mean we have no frogs in Kilkenny? Bernadette commented “I am asking everyone to hop into action, if you are out and about and observe one the various stages of the common frogs lifecycle including frog spawn, tadpoles, froglets or adult frogs in your garden or anywhere in Kilkenny, submit your observation to the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.
Observations can be logged at www.ipcc.ie, e-mailed to bogs@ipcc.ie or call 045-860133. These records would also benefit being recorded by the National Biodiversity Data Centre at https://records.biodiversityireland.ie/start-recording. Let 2026 be the year of the frog and let’s start building a distribution map of where frogs are located across the county Kilkenny by assisting the Irish Peatland Conservation Council “Hop To It” campaign this spring”.
