Look into the depths of a pond and you will be amazed at the abundance of life you see there. Whether they’re natural or man-made, these essential habitats support an incredible two-thirds of all freshwater species. Creating and restoring healthy ponds is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect biodiversity and TOE is delighted to have awarded grants to two pond restoration projects recently.
The two pond restoration projects are at Hill End in Farmoor near Oxford, and at Adderbury Lakes near Banbury.
Hill End is a long-established outdoor education centre, providing a diverse range of outdoor activities to schools and organised groups since the 1920s. Thousands of visitors are inspired by nature at Hill End every year. With their grant, the Hill End team will restore wonderful historic ponds so future visitors will be able to enjoy supervised pond dipping and other pond-related activities. Importantly, the ponds are also home to Great Crested Newts, which are a priority species in the UK, and restoration will improve the quality of their habitat allowing the newts to thrive.
In the 19th century Adderbury Lakes were part of the ornamental garden of Adderbury House. After a long period of neglect, the two interconnected lakes were restored in the 1980s and are now registered as a Local Nature Reserve. The mix of water and woodland habitat is considered a very valuable village resource and approximately[AP3] 15,000 people visit every year for recreation and nature walks. Until just a few years ago the water was crystal clear with abundant waterfowl including swans, herons and kingfishers - but in 2019 the lakes were hit by farm run-off and sewage pollution.
After two years of campaigning and remedial work by Thames Water and the Environment Agency, the pollution was eventually stopped and the quality of the water, which is regularly monitored, has improved. The Adderbury Lakes management group are now working to remove the excess weed which spread when the lakes were too high in nutrients to restore the lakes to their former glory. The grant from TOE will fund a contractor to remove the blanket weed mechanically and the volunteers will then manage the pond by hand in future.
TOE is delighted to award these grants to create open water for wildlife and to provide places for more wildlife education allowing children and others to experience, enjoy and learn about the natural world .
Both projects have been awarded grants from TOE with funding from Grundon Waste Management Ltd through the Landfill Communities Fund.