 |
|
|
Million Ponds Project - get digging!: |
| Author | Message |
|
herpetologic2 Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2004 No. of posts: 1369  View other posts by herpetologic2 |
Posted: 24 Mar 2009 Million Ponds Project ARG UK is a partner in this project coordinated by Pond Conservation. To provide guidance on the creation of 'clean water ponds' Pond Conservation has produced the Pond Creation http://www.pondconservation.org.uk/millionponds/pondcrea tiontoolkit/ Vice Chair of ARG UK - self employed consultant - visit ARG UK & Alresford Wildlife |
|
GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 24 Mar 2009 I read that as a "Million Pounds Project" and went to get the bucket and spade. Must be the consultant in me. Working link http://www.pondconservation.org.uk/millionponds/pondcreation toolkit/ Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
|
Peter Senior Member Joined: 17 Jan 2008 No. of posts: 260  View other posts by Peter |
Posted: 24 Mar 2009 [QUOTE=GemmaJF] I read that as a "Million Pounds Project" and went to get the bucket and spade. Must be the consultant in me. [/QUOTE]
|
|
Robert V Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 No. of posts: 717 View other posts by Robert V |
Posted: 25 May 2009
Without wishing to put a damper on the whole "million pound pond thingy", and as good as it is in trying to bring life where there is none, please remember that the only "pond project" which can/could make any significant difference to the populations of amphibians in the UK is one where ponds are built at intervals through out the uk (in agreement and compensation for farmers), but with migration corridors linking them all. It would be a massive project, certainly costing more than a million pounds especially if a new pond was to be constructed every couple of miles or so in a criss cross pattern linked across the shires. If there any multi millionaires out there that want to leave their mark on UK wildlife heritage, can I suggest you start looking at this as your first port of call. R RobV |
|
Mark_b Senior Member Joined: 26 Jun 2008 No. of posts: 79 View other posts by Mark_b |
Posted: 25 May 2009 The project isn't limited to one million ú poundsú, Gemma just thought/hoped it said úpoundsú rather than ponds hehe 
The Million Ponds Project just wants to get half a million ponds dug over the coming years (+ existing ponds = 1,000,000) , which can never be a bad thing
|
|
herpetologic2 Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2004 No. of posts: 1369 View other posts by herpetologic2 |
Posted: 25 May 2009 Hi Rob May I suggest you have a look at the link and have a read about what the project is trying to achieve. In order to readdress the pond losses over the last 60 or so years it is planned to create over 600,000 ponds across the UK - it is estimated that there was over 1,000,000 ponds in the UK - I think that the peak number was something like 1.7million ponds. There are around 400,000 ponds now (give or take). So the project aims to bring the number back up to a million Hence the name the Million Ponds Project. Now people have been busy creating new and restoring old neglected ponds. Take Essex Amphibian & Reptile Group they have created two new ponds in Brentwood with the help of the 100% fund (see www.arguk.org). The group has also supervised pond clearances and creation projects in Uttlesford and Basildon. Great Dunmow Council restored three ponds and created a new pond this year. Visits to the ponds have shown that great crested newts are breeding in all but one of the ponds. Common toads are within the larger pond in the town. Number of new GCN ponds = 1 number of restored gcn ponds = 2 Hatch Farm in Basildon was completely cleared last winter which was a bit drastic but visits this year has shown that the pond has come back to life amazingly well Number of GCN ponds restored = 1 Back to Brentwood - the new pond has been found to have breeding gcn less than 6 months after it was created. Another smaller pond has also had gcn found this spring gcn ponds = 2 Thorndon Country Park - gravel ponds were restored for the benefit of palmate newts. Plus the odd gcn is found here - palmate newt ponds = 3 to 4 new Essex County Council will be planning to create at least 50 or so new ponds over 2009/10 within country parks and other natural habitat areas which they manage. Bowers Marsh - gcn pond restored under license by the RSPB (shock horror!) - This is from a small group of volunteers who are working with landowners and other organisations to restore and create new ponds within Essex. It goes to show that any pond creation project is worthwhile. The better ones would be groups or clusters of ponds within the wider landscape. Down in Hampshire I am planning to organise new pond projects as part of my community group - greening Alresford and as a member of the Hampshire Amphibian & Reptile Network working with Hampshire County Council, Forestry Commission and private individuals and companies. Get out there and look for suitable sites and tell the million ponds project as they will be looking to fund these projects! J Vice Chair of ARG UK - self employed consultant - visit ARG UK & Alresford Wildlife |
|
Robert V Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 No. of posts: 717 View other posts by Robert V |
Posted: 26 May 2009 Jon, I'm not knocking it, it's great and I didn't know that fact 1.7 million ponds - amazing, no wonder we don't see as many frogs now as when we were kids. But I do have a reservation: if you don't link those ponds Jon, the populations will be struggling to be self sustaining in a colony and come one bad pollution incident, all that hard work in renovating any particular pond could be lost. What is needed is a deliberate planting policy of light hedgerows and ditches which actually link pond to pond, or pond to heath/scrub, then on to pond. That way all species can migrate and healthy populations can crop up more swiftly than if left in solitary confinement. Thinking long term really. R RobV |
|
AGILIS Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 694  View other posts by AGILIS |
Posted: 27 May 2009 local coservationists in cavendish some years ago decided to sterilise the local duck pond and banished the ducks from it and prosecuting them if they dared to return even though they had lived there for centuries ,with the exception of plastic duck
that some times turn up to enhance the place  LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID |
- Million Ponds Project - get digging! |
