By Tom
2025

Ponds are extremely important habitats, supporting around two-thirds of all freshwater species in Britain. Yet despite their ecological value, ponds have been disappearing. Half have been lost since the early 20th century. Historically, almost every village would have had a pond for water, fishing, and bathing. As piped water, industrial agriculture,  and land drainage expanded, these small bodies of water were filled in or neglected. A healthy pond supports an entire ecosystem: aquatic plants and insects, amphibians,  birds, and native mammals such as the Water Vole. Picture a pond in the summer, buzzing with life, dragonflies skimming the surface, Great Crested Grebes performing  their elaborate courtship displays, a Hobby terrorising Hirundines overhead. They also allow for people to connect with nature in areas with otherwise low biodiversity such as  cities. Through doing this ponds democratise access to nature. When ponds vanish, people lose connection to the natural environment, biodiversity suffers, and we all lose.

In the ecological discourse around how artificial Britain’s landscape is, we often focus 
on managed grouse moors, the annihilation of ancient woodland, and the draining of 
wetland into fenland, but on a much more local scale the disappearance of our ponds is 
easily overlooked. Perhaps because of their small size or perhaps – despite their 
objective decline – because most of us still see ponds often, just not often enough.

The former ubiquitousness enjoyed by ponds meant that they allowed for extremely 
accessible nature. In our ever more urbanised society nature is something that happens 
‘over there, away from me’, but ponds make it clear this need not be the case. Despite 
the decline of our ponds a lot of us still have a local pond. Where my parents live in 
London, Barnes Pond is in many ways still the centre of the local community. Due to this  prominence in the local area, the pond is prone to disturbance (many dog walkers and just lots of foot traffic in general). However, despite this lack of quiet the pond is still quite biodiverse, with at least seven species of duck having been recorded there. But the pond plays a bigger role than just hosting a variety of birds, it gets people excited about birds.

For an urban setting, Barnes is not one with a lack of biodiverse green spaces, with the pond 
situated between Richmond Park and the London WWT. What Barnes Pond does is get 
people who perhaps would not describe themselves as “nature lovers” excited about 
nature, it makes them happy to see a group of Mute Swans or Tufted Ducks whilst on 
their way to work or the pub. Places like this, where people and nature interface daily, 
are becoming far fewer.

​

​

 

 

 

 

​

​​

​

​

​

Barnes Pond in South West London

In many ways a lot of my own personal birding takes place around ponds. Here in St 
Andrews, the North Haugh pond is a local biodiversity hotspot and one of my favourite  birding spots. Just a 10-minute walk from most of my lectures. The pond provides valuable  breeding habitat to many  species, with Mallard, Moorhen,  Little Grebe, and Coot all  breeding in recent years. Of  these, Coot is particularly  exciting as the species is rather  localised within Fife. Ponds are filled with excitement, not just during the summer, they can 
also serve as important pit stops during migration for many birds. At the North Haugh 
pond Garganey, Water Rail, Green Sandpiper, and Great White Egret (historically very 
scarce this far north, with the first Fife record only in 1998, though this is changing) have 
all been recorded in the last 4 years. But, again, the reason the pond is so important is 
not limited to a handsome duck or an unusual heron. It is important also due to its 
proximity to people, allowing a wide group of people to come and enjoy this wildlife. The 
more people that enjoy wildlife responsibly, and by virtue of this feel they have a stake in 
nature, the better protected such wildlife becomes.

Last July I spent a brief week in São Paulo, and without a car most of my birding was 
extremely urban. At the end of the week I realised that a very significant amount of my 
birding had been done around ponds. Perhaps more evident than at the North Haugh 
pond, it was clear that each urban pond there was acting as a haven for wildlife in the 
extremely urban 20-million-person metropolis. In fact, on one early morning outing to 
the fairly small Parque da Aclimação I saw 5 different Heron species on the pond: Blackcrowned Night Heron, Striated Heron, Cocoi Heron, Great White Egret, and Snowy Egret,  also present were Limpkin and Wattled Jacanas that  were happily making use of 
the pond. That same morning, I met some incredibly friendly  local birders who gave me  good advice of where else to  go in the city, showing that  much like the biological  ecosystem urban ponds support they also create  places where local nature lovers invariably meet up. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Drake Garganey at the North Haugh pond in 2022

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

The Pond at Parque da Aclimação in São Paulo

Hopefully by now you’re convinced that ponds are worth protecting and that we need 
more of them. So, what can we do? Both big and small actions matter. If you have a 
garden and the space, even a small homemade pond can be incredibly valuable for 
local wildlife. The Wildlife Trusts have an excellent guide online on how to build one. Visit 
your local pond, get to know the wildlife, and meet the other people who enjoy it. When 
a pond becomes part of a community’s daily life, it rarely disappears. When people 
come together, ponds, and the biodiversity they support, stand a far better chance of 
surviving.