Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2013 | Page 76

COUNTRY LIFE

PONDS FOR
WILDLIFE
by Nicola Wheeler, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
A pond in your garden is one of the
best ways to help wildlife.
Nicola Wheeler, Pond & Wetlands
Officer at Hampshire & Isle of Wight
Wildlife Trust, explains why.
Q. Why are ponds such a great idea?
A. At a landscape level ponds hold
three-quarters of all freshwater species
in the UK, more than rivers and lakes!
Ponds are fantastic because they are
relatively cheap, quick and easy to
create and even the smallest ones can
be full of wildlife if some simple rules
are followed. Clean, unpolluted water
is vitally important as are shallow
edges and lots of plants.
Q. How easy is it to maintain a pond
once you have dug it?
A. Wildlife ponds are very easy to
maintain and don’t need to be too tidy.
The best ponds have some sediment at
the bottom, fallen twigs and leaves and
plenty of plants to provide habitats for
animals.
Q. How do you actually encourage
people to build ponds?
A. Well fortunately ponds seem to be
loved by everyone so in a way that
makes my job easier as not much
encouragement is needed! Lots of
interest usually follows an article in
the newspaper or a radio interview
about the project or often people
will ask for advice about ponds when
they see the Wildlife Trust stand at
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an event. I regularly provide advice
to people who want to create a pond
but don’t know where to start. We
have also contributed to the Island’s
Pond Warden Scheme which runs a
short training course designed t o give
people a greater understanding and
appreciation of ponds.

newts or writing a pond management
plan for a local farmer or supervising
an excavator driver who is creating a
new pond or working with volunteers
to remove invasive non-native plants
that are threatening a pond’s wildlife.
Q. How long have you been in the job
and how many ponds do you think
xxxxx

Island pond with breeding great crested newts

For larger ponds in the wider
countryside or public open spaces I
assist landowners such as the Forestry
Commission with the design, planning
permission, funding and oversee the
actual construction work.
Q. What does a typical day look like?
A. One of the reasons that I enjoy this
job is that there is no such thing as a
typical day! I could be surveying an
historic pond complex for great crested

you have inspired?
A. I’ve been in the job working
part-time since January 2010 and since
then the project has created around 47
new ponds and given advice on dozens
of others and hopefully inspired many
more to be built both in back gardens
and on farmland.
Q. What do you think has been your
greatest success?
A. Securing funding so that lots of