Steven Allain overview
Steven is passionate about the recording of amphibians and reptiles, which have been historically under-recorded due to their cryptic nature, and poor public image compared to other species. These are two groups of animals that have always captured his imagination. Steven believes that species distribution data should be free for everyone to access, as it is impossible to conserve a species without first knowing where it occurs. With this in mind, Steven has led a number of recording initiatives through the local Amphibian and Reptile Groups he is involved with in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk. It is also in these counties that Steven verifies records of amphibians and reptiles for various recording schemes such as iRecord, Record Pool, and local environmental records centres.
Steven works hard to record non-native reptiles and amphibians throughout the country, with projects involving species from alpine newts, midwife toads, and red-eared terrapins to name a few. As well as knowing where our native species occur, it is important to know where non-native and potentially harmful species occur, so that their impacts on native species can be managed appropriately.
Steven was awarded the NBN Award for wildlife recording – terrestrial in 2022.