Australian frog species have been dramatically declining since the 1980s. A frog habitat is an environment in which the frog feeds, shelters, and breeds. If frogs cannot find suitable habitat, they will die. So, it’s hardly surprising that habitat loss is the greatest threat to frogs.

The way humans damage frog habitats is by clearing large areas of native vegetation, draining wetlands for agriculture, the use of excessive nitrogen fertilisers, collecting bush rocks that are used by the frogs for shelter, and reducing the quality of wildlife corridors that connect areas of frog habitats.

Whether you have a small backyard or a large property, there are simple things you can do to help your local frogs. Making a Frog Bog is a fun thing to do in your garden and helps the frogs. Firstly, you must consider what frogs need before embarking on your project. They need moisture, food, and shelter. Ideally, your frog bog would be located in a shaded area of your garden. About 70% shade to 30% sunlight.

By creating a shaded frog bog you are ensuring a bit of algae will grow. This helps develop the perfect ecosystem for frogs and tadpoles. Providing rocks, logs, leaf litter, and small plants around your frog bog will keep your local frogs very happy and safe from predators as you are providing lots of places for them to hide.

A solar light close by the frog bog encourages insects to be attracted to the light which is delicious food for the frogs. When designing your pond always consider that many fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides will be devastating to frogs, tadpoles, and their food sources. So limit your chemical use in your veggie patch!

Now that you have located the perfect spot in your garden, it’s time to get building. The best design is to have various depths in your pond as tadpoles need sections of deep water to keep cool and sections of shallow water. They also need sloping sides on the pond so they can get out or a branch sloping into the pond which will give them a natural ladder to be able to set off on adventures.

Once you have built your frog bog, sit back and wait, they will come. There is no need to head down to your local waterway and collect tadpoles…they will find you.

– By Eve Ballard