copyright: Neil Phillips

Great success at the 50 Pond Challenge!

Mon, October 24, 2011 - 12:00:00

The 50 Pond Challenge took place this weekend with great success at the Nevendon Washland private nature reserve in Essex. A team of 30 volunteers constructed 50 ponds in just 24 hours (in fact the first 44 took just 6 and a half hours to dig!). The event was organised by Pond Conservation and ARG UK (Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK) in conjunction with Herpetologic Ltd.

The event was designed to bring interested people together to demonstrate how clean water ponds can be created to provide a natural and all too scarce habitat for freshwater biodiversity. The ponds were dug by hand, and will be filled over the winter months by rainwater only and allowed to colonise naturally. Volunteers included students from Writtle College, supporters of Pond Conservation and members of Essex and London Amphibian and Reptile Groups. The pond designs got more creative as the weekend progressed - from simple round ponds to a dragonfly-shaped pond and even the word 'DIG'!

It is hoped that the common frog will benefit in particular from these temporary, shallow, warm ponds. Once a common site in the British countryside, the common frog's natural habitat has been often lost to agriculture and land drainage. Frog tadpoles will also provide food for diving beetles and other invertebrates and the resident population of newts. 

Nevendon Washland is a private nature reserve managed by Herpetologic Ltd on behalf of Zenolia Marine BVI Ltd. 

RSS Feed

Please subscribe to our ecological & environmental - news, events & discussion update feed. What is RSS?

Latest Stories

• Great success at the 50 Pond Challenge!
• BBC Live ‘n’ Deadly - Deadly Day Out!
• Natural England Reptile Mitigation Guidelines
• Introducing… Louise Cranfield
• Reptile Habitat Management Handbook
• WILDGuides Publication
• Great Crested Newt HSI
• Go-Ahead for Biffawards Ponds