Pond Creation and Restoration

The Land Management team have a wealth of expertise in pond creation and restoration, having completed almost 200 pond projects over the last three years alone.

Experienced in working with national bodies, local authorities and private landowners, the team have delivered numerous ponds as part of Natural England’s District Level Licencing initiative in addition to supporting local landscaping projects and biodiversity enhancement strategies.

Natural England – District Level Licencing Project

In 2019 we were appointed by Natural England and DEFRA to be the lead delivery contractor for the creation or restoration of a number of great crested newt (GCN) ponds in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. Our remit has since grown to incorporate North Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire.

The current project is part of a national strategy to bolster populations in stronghold areas and allow Local Authorities to undertake landscape scale management of the population through District Level Licencing.

The Aim

Natural England and DEFRA undertook a national habitat suitability and population study that identified population hot spots and important fringe areas nationally.
Natural England has used £2.5 million of MHCLG funding to pump-prime the delivery of ponds across the wider landscape.
Working with Habitat Delivery Bodies (HDB), including Wildscapes in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, Natural England will have funded the creation/restoration of over 500 ponds ideally suited for GCN.
In live schemes: 95% of funds go to HDB for delivering ponds & their monitoring & Maintenance to ensure their suitability for GCN for 25 years.

Pond Loss

50% of the UK’s ponds were lost during the 20th century, whilst the majority of our remaining ponds are classed as being in a poor state.
Many ponds are man-made and were mainly lost from our landscape due to land use change; in particular, the move away from mixed farming that occurred from the early 1960s.
Modelling shows that it is the loss of these ponds that has been the main factor in the decline of GCN.

Interested landowners

We’re delighted to confirm that we are now able to deliver a further batch of fully funded ponds in South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, Derbyshire and North Lincolnshire this year! Interested landowners in the following areas are encouraged to get in touch by emailing info@wildscapes.co.uk or leaving a message on 0114 303 5123 and a member of our team will get back to you.

Landowners can check if their land falls within Natural England’s strategic opportunity area by entering a grid reference or postcode on Magic Maps here. The map can be found by selecting Land Based Schemes > Other Schemes > Great Crested Newts Strategic Opportunity Areas (England).

Barnsley
Doncaster
Sheffield
Rotherham
Chesterfield
Bolsover
City of Derby
Erewash
South Derbyshire
NE Derbyshire
Amber Valley
Derbyshire Dales
North Lincolnshire
North Yorkshire

Currently we’re delivering the project in these areas only. Please continue to check our social media channels for announcements for other areas across Yorkshire, Derbyshire & Lincolnshire.

Please note that to be eligible for the scheme, ponds will need to be a minimum size of 150m2.

We are happy to take on pond restoration and creation work outside of the Natural England and DEFRA scheme. If you have a pond or suitable land that you’d like to develop then please feel free to contact us to discuss further.