KRAG members were treated to not two but three talks from David Sewell and Brett Lewis of The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Canterbury.   The first of the talks was delivered by Brett on his research into mitigation measures that take place as a result of development work.  He invited the audience to consider whether the current measures taken were the most cost effective and appropriate measures to ensure the conservation of protected species.  This was followed by David's talk on the effects of climate change on great crested newts.  David has found that warm, and in particular, wet autumns and winters appear to increase great crested newt mortality rates.  This is paticularly worrying as long term climate change forecasts suggest we will get slightly warmer and considerably wetter winters.  The evening concluded with an assessment of the effectiveness of NARRS survey methodology and how this impacted upon detection rates of animals in the field.  The good news is that one or two small moderations to the methodology to be implemented this year can have a dramatic effect on the reliability of the data collected.  KRAG wish to express their great thanks to Brett and David for these illuminating talks.