Greener Future
Flintshire Local Nature Partnership used Local Places for Nature funding to restore two ponds at schools in the county, in addition to pond restoration and aquatic INNS management at a country park managed by one of their Community Councils.
Flintshire is one of the key counties in Wales for the Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus (GCN)). The network of ponds across the County are important breeding sites for frogs and newts. However, a high percentage of their freshwater habitats are not in favourable condition.
Consequently, this project focused on restoring existing ponds at Ysgol Bro Carmel and Ysgol Nannerch back to favourable conditions to promote nature recovery and biodiversity conservation. These newly restored ponds will also provide a valuable environmental educational resource to educate people about the importance of environmental conservation, the significance of water bodies, the role of wetlands in supporting biodiversity, and the ecosystem services they provide.
Both Carmel and Nannerch schools had a single pond on their grounds. Both ponds were in an unusable and unsafe state with significant overgrowth, excess silt build-up and shading from trees. They were also only holding water seasonally due to damaged liners. The ponds had no species records associated with them, providing limited habitat and were not used for environmental education.
Broughton Country Park has two ponds on site. One pond in the centre of the Country Park had been left unmanaged for several years and was only holding water seasonally. The second pond was dominated by the invasive non-native species Crassula helmsii which was forming dense mats and out-competing native vegetation. A small population of GCN have been recorded on the site and are also present in the surrounding landscape. Local Places for Nature funding enabled the LNP to cover the costs of the project.
Between September and November 2024, preparatory work was undertaken which included:
Practical pond restoration works took place between November 2024 – February 2025: due to biodiversity constraints, and dipping platforms were installed at school ponds.
The LPfN funding to restore the pond at Ysgol Bro Carmel has allowed the school to apply for additional funding of £2000 from another grant provider to install a new footpath around the pond to improve access.
28 newts were counted during a torch survey at the newly restored pond in Broughton Country park including Great Crested Newts.
The project faced some challenges. The pond project at Broughton Country Park was particularly complex due to the presence of invasive non-native species and protected species on site. To address these issues, several partners such as Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, Natural Resources Wales, Wildlife Trust and the local Community Council were all included in discussions to ensure the correct policy and process was followed in accordance with legislation. A species conservation licence was also obtained.
It was important that the local community who regularly used the country park understood the work and reasons for undertaking the work, to share information about the project.
Temporary awareness signs were installed in the park and several site visits undertaken with the local Community Council members and staff.
Due to the complexity of the projects and heavy machinery needed, there was been minimal community/volunteer contributions during practical restoration. However, the local community, school staff and pupils were involved in the initial plans for restoration and will be involved in the monitoring of the site following restoration.
Michael Martell, Head teacher at Ysgol Bro Carmel, said: “The pond restoration has had a significant, lasting benefit to the pupils and the school. All of our 180 pupils and staff have access at all times to the pond area and can be involved in meaningful outdoor learning, for example through studying life cycles, local wildlife or the importance of maintaining a biodiverse environment. This pond restoration adds awe and wonder to the school's daily life, as well as engages children who might ordinarily find school engagement more challenging - having a vibrant, reestablished pond area more effectively inspires those pupils more than solely classroom-based learning. As the pond restoration continues to develop, become more established and inhabited, we will be able to offer access to other schools in our local area for activities such as pond dipping and wildlife studies, expanding the reach from a couple of hundred pupils to potentially thousands of pupils over time”.
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