Restoring Norfolk’s farmland ponds to support biodiversity

Geographers at UCL are working with farmers and conservation groups across Norfolk to restore ancient ponds that support many aquatic plants and animals currently in decline.

The county of Norfolk once had over 23,000 ponds, many of which were on farmland and date back to the 17^th–18^th centuries. But thousands have been filled in or fallen into disrepair and become overgrown by trees.

“Norfolk’s many ponds provide vital freshwater environments in the farmland landscape and are vital to the conservation of aquatic and terrestrial wildlife in farmland,” explains Professor Carl Sayer (UCL Geography) lead researcher on the Norfolk Ponds Project.

The Norfolk Ponds Project was established in partnership with several wildlife conservation groups to restore neglected pond habitats for a wide variety of plants and animals, including amphibians, farmland birds, rare fishes and even pollinators. The team is also engaging with farmers, conservation practitioners and policy-makers through open days and events, to encourage pond restoration and management for biodiversity conservation.

We want to restore the natural landscape in Norfolk and bring benefits to farmers and local wildlife alike.

“The Norfolk Ponds Project aims to reverse the decline of the area’s ponds so that agricultural landscapes contain a mosaic of clean water ponds that will support aquatic biodiversity,” says Professor Sayer.

As well as providing advice to landowners on how best to restore and manage ponds in farmland, the project team support farmers who wish to reinstate ponds that have been deliberately in-filled by farmers in the past. These so-called ‘ghost ponds’ can appear as crop marks and puddles out in the fields, but they can easily be resurrected to become vibrant wetland habitats again if the will is there.

In addition to restoring ponds, the NPP has led to and informed (providing advice and know-how via events and visits to farms) pond restoration work in Norfolk, as well as more widely in Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Suffolk.

For example, in May and September 2019, working for the NPP, the UCL PRRG ran two day-long events aimed at educating farmers and farm conservation advisors in Norfolk (total 42 participants) on the rationale and processes of farmland pond restoration.

“Good ponds act as stepping stones that allow species to move through the landscape, which is vital to conserving a diverse range of species,” says Professor Sayer. “We want to restore the natural landscape in Norfolk and bring benefits to farmers and local wildlife alike."