The team were able to award a £11,275 FiPL grant to support a farm close to the Newtown Harbour National Nature Reserve as part of the Island Pond Restoration project. 

The ponds on the farm were originally dug to give livestock a source of drinking water.  Resisting a call from the Ministry of Agriculture many years ago to fill in ponds, the owners of the farm retained theirs, which are distributed across the farm with one in each pasture field.

The ponds became home to a rich variety of plants including water-purslane, oak-leaved goosefoot, lesser water-plantain – all of which are now nationally rare – and to great crested newts, which have become critically endangered as the number of ponds in healthy condition has fallen. 

Over the years, water levels in ponds tend to reduce as silt builds up; adjacent trees grow up, creating shade – this all reduces the pond’s value for wildlife with the change from open sunlit water to a shaded damp hollow.  To reverse this natural process, ponds need periodic silt removal and reduction of tree or shrub cover.  

Following best practice guidance, the team began with a survey of the farm’s ponds to identify those in need of restoration. Those with rare or endangered species were prioritised, while those containing New Zealand pygmyweed - which suffocates water bodies - were excluded to avoid machine-borne transferral to uncontaminated ponds. They also undertook a visual survey and DNA testing on the ponds to establish which were home to great crested newts. The farm is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), so the team obtained formal consent from Natural England to complete the work.

Having determined that six of the ponds were ripe for restoration, the Isle of Wight National Landscape team then determined how much silt should be removed and which trees and shrubs should be cleared, particularly on the south side of the ponds, to increase light levels.

To minimise risks to the resident species, the work was undertaken over the winter period, making best use of a frosty spell to bring in the heavy excavator, avoiding creating ruts and compacting the farm’s poorly draining clay soil. 

There can be a tendency to overclean ponds, but the team worked with an experienced excavator operator, who removed exactly the amount of material that would return the pond to its original pond depth and shape, leaving gently sloping margins for plant colonisation, conserving the existing wildlife.

Wildlife will now rapidly return to the restored ponds, and the farmer will be keeping them free of fertilisers and pesticides. The farm’s livestock can continue to have some access for drinking, as this will help control aquatic plants on the margins of the ponds. The livestock’s movement will create bare ground, which makes good invertebrate habitat.  The project marks a continuation of the historic farming regime which led to the farm’s recognition as an SSSI.

Mark Simmons, Farm Adviser for the Isle of Wight National Landscape said: 
“Full credit to the farmer whose enthusiasm to maintain her farm’s ponds will ensure wildlife will continue to be conserved, providing essential habitat to help establish more strongholds.”