Discovery of populations of the marsh snail Vertigo moulinsiana near a
nd within the route of a new road in southern England whilst site clea
rance was in progress, caused the urgent development of a strategy to
protect the animals. The snail's inclusion on Annex II of the European
Habitats & Species Directive made it vital for appropriate action to
be implemented to protect the snail along the proposed road. As it was
not feasible to change the route it was decided to translocate the we
tland habitat supporting the Vertigo moulinsiana populations to places
off-route. As a further safeguard, new marsh habitat was created to p
rovide the opportunity for V. moulinsiana colonisation. The methods of
translocation and the subsequent monitoring programme are described.
Early results indicate that the translocation of snail rich vegetation
has been successful and that the snails are breeding.