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Libellula depressa copyright Andrew Chambers
Libellula depressa copyright Andrew Chambers

Has your pond been affected by the current drought? Don't panic, help is just a click away

There is currently little reliable information about the impact of drought on our ponds, rivers and lakes. Help us change this by making a regular gift

Your donation will support our high quality research and practical projects to protect freshwater wildlife, and provide invaluable, evidence-based resources and advice for the future.

JOIN US NOW!

Support our ongoing work to protect and create new habitats for all our precious freshwater wildlife in 2011.

Join Pond Conservation now

Problems with your pond? The (Pond) Doctor is in!

Having problems with your pond? Falling water levels, green water, nuisance plants, algae and blanket weed?

Visit the Pond Doctor now

Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife

Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife

Now available, our brand new booklet, ‘Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife’, generously sponsored by World of Water Aquatic Centres.

Download the booklet here

World of Water logo

Our thanks go to World of Water Aquatic Centres for generously sponsoring our new advice booklet 'Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife'

Pond Conservation is the national charity dedicated to protecting the wildlife of our freshwaters: ponds, rivers, streams and lakes.

We give advice, carry out research, promote practical action and lobby policy makers to ensure that freshwater wildlife and habitats have a secure future.

Piloting a new monitoring network for ponds

PondNet logo

PondNet picture

Species and habitat surveillance data are the cornerstone of biodiversity protection in the UK: providing essential information that describes changes in species and habitats.There is much concern that pond biodiversity is declining. National surveys by Pond Conservation and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology have established that over 80% of ponds in England and Wales are now in poor condition, and the number of plant species found in ponds is declining exceptionally fast – falling by over 20% even in the last 10 years!

With so little regular monitoring of ponds there is a real worry that future declines in plant and animal groups like dragonflies and amphibians will go undetected. To help provide better information, Natural England is helping to fund the development of a new type of volunteer surveillance network click here to find out more

Creating new ponds for Tassel Stonewort (Tolypella intricata)

What is the perfect pond?

Many people have a mental picture of the ‘perfect pond’ – probably a bulrush-fringed pond on a village green, with a few ducks lazily sculling on the surface.

Tassel Stonewort_copyright Martin HammondHowever, many of our most threatened freshwater plants and creatures can’t live in these types of ponds. Tadpole Shrimps and Fairy Shrimps need transient ephemeral ponds to live in, some, like Great Crested Newts, can’t tolerate fish, and many others need clean water – the sort you can only find with a completely unpolluted catchment.

One of our favourite plants requiring these sort of conditions is the Tassel Stonewort, and we are very grateful to the John Spedan Lewis Foundation for enabling us to carry out this work in Oxfordshire – one of the few places in Britain where the Tassel Stonewort is still known to exist.

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  • Find out more about the Flagship Ponds Project

    The Wales Flagship Ponds Pilot Project

    Following the launch of our pilot Welsh Flagship Ponds Project, Dr Fred Slater has surveyed the first 12 of our top quality priority ponds - which (as expected) are showing high levels of biodiversity.

    Find out more about the Flagship Ponds Project
  • For more on the New Forest Pondscape Project

    New Forest Pondscape Project

    A major new landscape scale project to develop a strategy to protect the critical pond species and community types of the New Forest through targeted management and creation of ponds in the National Park.

    For more on the New Forest Pondscape Project
 
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