Edda Dupree
The 15 Minute Garden Pond Challenge
Pledge to build a mini-pond in your garden this summer
One of the best things we can do to help wildlife is to create a pond, whether it is a tiny mini-pond in your back garden or the length of 20 metres on a nature reserve. Ponds are magnets for wild creatures of all kinds, yet we lost 50% of them last century.
Creating a mini-pond in your garden can be super-quick, cheap and simple. Pond creatures and other wildlife should start to use it within days. You can create one in less than 15 minutes with only items you will likely have already at home. The question is...
Do you accept The 15 Minute Garden Pond Challenge on behalf of Cornwall’s wildlife?
A healthy garden pond is likely to support a greater range of wildlife than any other feature in your garden.Wild About Gardens
When your new pond is ready for its grand opening...
When your pond is place, come back here and let us know. For a limited time, while stocks last, we are sending new pond owners a ‘My Wildlife Garden Pond’ sign to let wildlife, friends and family know that your garden pond is officially open for visitors!
(Coming soon - fill in pledge details above and we will let you know when you can tell us about your new pond)
Isabelle Candy
Why create a pond?
Two-thirds of our freshwater species can be found in ponds; Common Frogs, Great Diving Beetles, Emperor Dragonfly larvae, Palmate Newts and Broad-leaved Pondweed all call ponds home for some or all of their lives. Many other species are drawn to ponds to breed in, drink from or to use as a place to find food. Of the ponds we have left 80% are in poor condition, usually because of pollution levels. The good news is new, clean water ponds can quickly support a plethora of wildlife. The national charity Freshwater Habitats Trust has a target to get back to the one million ponds that used to enrich the British countryside 100 years ago.
What is Cornwall Wildlife Trust doing about the need for more ponds?
We have been doing our bit across Trust nature reserves and conservation projects. At our Windmill Farm Nature Reserve for example we have created at least a 12 new ponds in the last 10 years. We also support the reintroduction of nature’s very own pond creators: beavers! In partnership with other organisations, Cornwall Wildlife Trust are working on carefully planned wild beaver reintroductions in Cornwall over the next few years, resulting in many more beaver-created ponds full of life. Find out more here.