The BHS Conservation Committee has been in existence since 1969. It has produced several publications in the past such as 'Surveying for Amphibians', 'Amphibians in Garden Ponds' and 'Reptiles Need Friends'. Members have also contributed to numerous other publications. Members were contracted to produce the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) survey for the Nature Conservancy Council 1984-1987 which resulted in a paper in the Herpetological Journal in 1989 on its distribution in England.

The Committee has several pieces of land in Dorset and one in Surrey which are managed for their rare reptiles and amphibians, we also lease other land and have agreements with the Forestry Commission in Hampshire and Dorset to assist with management of their land and surveys of the herpetofauna on their land. The committee organises a programme of Winter management tasks from October to April when a small band of dedicated members go out with other volunteers on Sundays to manage land usually by clearing trees and scrub from heathland in Dorset, Hampshire and Surrey, usually every 2 or 3 weeks. Several members are qualified chainsaw operators so do most of the cutting whilst other members drag the material off the heath and usually burn it on a controlled bonfire or stack it for chipping at a later date. This depends on the weather and time of the year and also whose land we are working on at the time. Some members also go out during the spring and summer period to look for herpetofauna for both local and national recording schemes as well as specific long term projects, but the committee can always make use of more members to send in records of the animals they see!