Seven Ponds in Seven Days

Kicking off on 20 September, a conservation project in Norfolk is highlighting the vital role of ponds in the English countryside as part of a "seven ponds in seven days" restoration challenge. Researchers at UCL, with support from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and other conservation partners are leading a volunteer team of local farmers, gamekeepers and students to restore seven farmland ponds to the benefit of wildlife including amphibians and dragonflies. Funding comes from UCL as part of the recently launched Norfolk Ponds Project. The challenge has been set to raise awareness of the importance of ponds, and to show how pond restoration can be achieved both cheaply and quickly. UCL will follow the progress of the seven ponds closely for the next few years and before and after studies will demonstrate the benefits to farmland wildlife. Ponds can be wonderful habitats for aquatic biodiversity including threatened and important species such as the declining common toad, water vole and rare plants like stoneworts and pondweeds. They provide refuge for over two thirds of Britain's rarest freshwater wetland invertebrates and act as stepping stones that allow many species to move through the landscape.