EPCN - Projects

Pond management success stories

This page present a selection of successful management, for people and biodiversity

Case Studies

UK: Countryside Survey results. The first survey of the state of a country's ponds.

A good example of (i) how a pond survey can be conducted, and (ii) how it brings useful information!

Information on the state of the Great Britain’s ponds is presented in a report published by the Countryside Survey partnership. [pdf 4.0 Mo]

The report show some positive signals for conservation of biodiversity, such as increase in the number of ponds. However, the reports also show some negative signals; for example, ponds in England and Wales are widely degraded and pond quality has declined over the past decade.

Key findings described in the Ponds report include:

  • In 2007, the number of ponds in Great Britain was estimated to be 478,000.
  • The 2007 survey provided evidence that as measured by their composition of plants, ponds in England and Wales were widely degraded, with around 80% of ponds being of Poor or Very Poor quality.
  • There was a high turnover of ponds between 1998 and 2007, with an estimated 18,000 ponds lost and 70,600 new ponds created. New ponds were typically of better quality and supported more plant species than older ponds

pond_survey

 

Other examples of success stories will soon be presented here.