The charity Pond Conservation launches the national Big Pond Dip on Tuesday 26 May 2009
Britain’s countryside ponds are in trouble: 8 out of 10 are in poor condition.
But what about our 2 million garden ponds?
We all think that putting in a garden pond is great for wildlife but, amazingly, almost nothing is known about the wildlife that lives in garden ponds.
Pond Conservation’s preliminary research shows that the wildlife value of garden ponds varies a lot – some are up with the best, but others are dull and polluted wildlife deserts.
Now the charity is inviting everyone to take part in the first national survey of garden pond wildlife - the Big Pond Dip - to find out how good garden ponds are for wildlife.
The Big Pond Dip will give each pond a score, based on the types of invertebrate animals present – including mayflies, dragonflies, damselflies, water boatmen and pond skaters. This scoring system has been developed from Pond Conservation’s 20 year programme of research on assessing pond quality.
Finding all the 12 main types of animal in your pond shows that it’s a great wildlife habitat. A lower score shows your pond could be improved, or may even be due for a major makeover.
Dr Jeremy Biggs, Pond Conservation Director of Policy and Research says ‘We know that ponds in the countryside support more endangered freshwater plants and animals than much bigger rivers and lakes, but we really have no idea at all about the contribution made by our 2 million garden ponds. The Big Pond Dip is the first step in getting to know more about this important habitat, and to helping people make their garden ponds even better refuges for freshwater wildlife’.
And children's TV programme Blue Peter are getting into the act too by seeing how wildlife-friendly the famous Blue Peter pond is by doing the Big Pond Dip.You can see how it goes on BBC One on Tuesday 26 May.
How to get involved in the Big Pond Dip
To get started, all you need is a kitchen sieve and a tray to put the pond animals into (a baking tray with white paper stuck on will do). Once you’ve got your dipping kit together:
- Go to the Big Pond Dip for details on how to dip and download the colour guide to pond animals.
- Go outside to do your Big Pond Dip and see which animals love your pond.
- Work out your total score by adding up the scores for each type of animal that you find.
Don’t forget to tell Pond Conservation what you have found by filling in the online form. The deadline for results to be entered is 1 August 2009.
If your pond could do with a spruce-up, then Pond Conservation provide free advice on how to make your pond better for wildlife, such as cleaning up the water supply and making more wildlife-friendly edges.
Notes to editors
1. Pond Conservation is the national charity dedicated to creating and protecting ponds and the wildlife they support. We carry out research, surveys and practical conservation, working in partnership with others.
2. Big Pond Dip guides and forms and garden pond advice can be downloaded for free at www.pondconservation.org.uk/bigponddip
3. The Big Pond Dip is supported by Natural England
