What's happened so far and why?
Ponds provide vital habitat for some of the UK’s most important native species. In fragmented urban landscapes ponds can provide habitat stepping stones for mobile species such as dragonflies, bridging gaps between larger habitat patches. In addition to their vital role in supporting biodiversity, ponds help protect cities from flooding by storing water; create urban cooling effects in the midst of climate change; and improve people’s wellbeing by providing tranquil spaces to connect with nature.
The Great London Pond Project aims to restore London’s vanished ponds to our landscape. We will work with landowners and community groups to restore at least 10 ponds by the end of 2026 and build a network of over 100 London Pond champions who will work with us to monitor, restore and maintain them.
Background
Despite their importance, there has not been a systematic on the ground survey of ponds across Greater London since the 1980's. In order to improve and increase the number of ponds across London, we first needed to know where and in what condition London's ponds were in currently.
To fill this gap, in 2024, in partnership with the Freshwater Habitats Trust (FHT) and Green Space Information for Greater London (GiGL) and supported by the Mayor of London, we recruited and trained 100 citizen science volunteers to work with us to map and record the condition of ponds in Greater London’s public spaces. The data collected is being fed into the developing Nature Recovery Strategy for London. So far, we have mapped 581 publicly accessible ponds across London.
What's next?
Now that we have this baseline data, we would like to build on this work by shortlisting ponds to those where their restoration would really benefit both wildlife and people. We plan to forge new partnerships with landowners and community groups to restore ponds and build a network of pond champions. Volunteers will be trained and supported to deliver a new community science method to track pond condition after restoration.
Our survey of ponds in London has revealed that many ponds are suffering from neglect. Lack of maintenance in some cases has led to them being completely shaded out by trees and lost in scrub. Ponds that could provide essential habitat for many species have been lost from the cityscape. This project will bring vital pond habitats back to life, into view and into community stewardship.
Why do we do this?
Freshwater habitats cover less than 3% of UK land surface and yet support around 10% of our species. Restoring these ponds will contribute to a healthier ecosystem, improved flood risk management, and a more climate-resilient London.
Ponds are under threat - 57% of freshwater and wetland species for which we have sufficient data for have declined, and 29% have declined strongly (State of Nature 2016). Our data shows many ponds in London suffering from neglect, and some have disappeared from the landscape entirely. Given their significance for biodiversity we can’t afford to lose these habitats. A little care from trained communities will prove transformational in bringing ghost ponds back to life. By training and supporting communities we will build capacity to deliver a visionary and resilient nature recovery strategy for London.
What are the key outcomes we wish to develop with your help?
- To gain a better understanding of priority wetland habitats and species in London we will analyse the distribution data on London priority freshwater species with the updated pond map to identify gaps and opportunities to link habitat improvement to priority species.
- We will increase the number of nature-rich ponds in London by prioritizing ponds that can be restored or improved for wildlife and work with pond landowners to assess the feasibility of partnering to improve ponds.
- We will build partnerships with more local community groups to support long-term pond maintenance and monitoring in London. By shortlisting 10 ponds with maximum wildlife potential and community and landowner support we will work towards developing and delivering sustainable restoration plans.
- We will develop a new community science monitoring method and resilient network of pond champions by recruiting and training 120 community science volunteers to monitor ponds pre- and post- restoration.
Costings:
The full cost of this two year project will be £94,254.
£10,000 would fully restore a London pond, including staff time, partner costs & restoration costs such as materials (including plants).