We have had a wet, species poor, corner of a field transformed at Carmel Nature Reserve!

Rebecca Killa, Wildlife Trust Officer said, "There was consistently standing water here, but due to sediment build up and the dominance of rush, it wasn’t fulfilling it’s potential for wildlife.

After a chance conversation with a local man, who remembers swimming in a pond in this location as a boy in the 50’s, it became clear that there was an opportunity to make the existing feature bigger and better."

The new pond complex was designed specifically for wildlife.

We created four ponds of different depths and surface areas to increase the range of wildlife attracted to the water. To provide habitats in all climate conditions we created peripheral ponds that would seasonally dry up with a deeper pond that should retain water.

The drawdown zone is the area between where the water is highest at winter to where it is lowest during the summer. It is a very important habitat for plants and invertebrates, which is also used by birds and small mammals as a feeding area.

Most pond animal species live in very shallow areas, often in water that’s often only 1 – 10 cm deep. Our Wildlife Trust team made sure to provide lots of shallow sloping sides to the ponds, this will maximize the draw down zone as well as providing lots of shallow water habitat.

The excavation took place last month and the cows were soon trampling over the bunds and puddling the sides which will create small niche microhabitats, again maximizing wildlife potential.

There will now be several dormant months for the ponds to bed in before spring. We are looking forward to watching the ponds mature and see what species colonize and take advantage of our new mini wetland. 

This project has been funded by WG Local Places for Nature funding to support Local Nature Partnerships.