Dig a Hole, Fill It with Water

A new study reveals that UK ponds are in sad shape. One writer decided to build his own

A new national survey conducted by the UK-based organizations Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Pond Conservation has found that 80% of ponds in England and Wales are in a "poor" or "very poor" condition, a result of farm fertilizer runoff and urban sprawl.

The report has also revealed that there just aren't many ponds left.

"Long valued by conservationists and the public as wildlife havens, recent research has shown that ponds are much more important for the protection of freshwater biodiversity than previously suspected," according to a Pond Conservation press release.

"Ponds support more endangered freshwater plant and animal species than either rivers or lakes and, in a typical patch of English countryside, a wider variety of common species too."

In a recent Daily Mail article, Nigel Colborn wrote about his own experience trying to help out by creating his own pond "on a mad impulse" one Saturday afternoon.

After digging a hole, placing a liner, filling it with water, creating a bog and planting water weed, kingcups, primula and irises, Colborn waited for animals to take refuge in what he called a "modest water feature" in a "low-lying, semi-shaded area."

And take refuge they did.

In the mud he created, he discovered the footprints of birds and hedgehogs.

"Success was confirmed when newts, dragonflies, pond-skaters and frogspawn arrived," wrote Colborn.

"That's the beauty of a wildlife pond."

GET INVOLVED

• Build a pond
• Join the "Million Ponds Project"
• Visit garden pond blog of Dr. Jeremy Biggs of Pond Conservation
  
• Support Pond Conservation
  
• Join the Great Backyard Bird Count, a 4-day "citizen-science" project taking place across the United States starting on February 12, 2010
• Check out these 15 ways to attract birds -- and birdsongs -- into your backyard
  
• Read "What You Can Do to Help Birds" (StateOfTheBirds.org)
  
• 25 Things You Can Do to Help the Birds in Your Backyard
  

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image: leopard frog (credit: pdunant)