Toad patrol to star at film festival

A FILM about the work of the Henley Toad Patrol has been selected for the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival.

Slow: Toad Patrol, which is directed by Chris Suddaby and Ernesta Gempler, follows the work of volunteers who help amphibians across the busy Marlow Road to their spawning pond every year.

This year a total of 8,820 toads, 234 frogs and 344 newts were gathered by the group, the second highest number collected since records began.

Each year, the volunteers put up a 1km barrier along the edge of Marlow Road to prevent the toads being killed by vehicles as they migrate from Oaken Grove Wood to a pond in the grounds of the Culden Faw Estate on the other side of the road.

The festival, which will take place next month, is usually held in New York but due to the pandemic it has moved online.

Angelina Jones, who
co-ordinates the volunteers, said she was delighted that the film had been selected.

“Chris and Ernesta tell me it’s one of the biggest film festivals in the world,” she said.

“A lot of people, even locals, still don’t know what the Toad Patrol is, so if we could just get it out there how important it is to help your local wildlife —  whatever it is — and to get involved. It’s good fun.”