28/02/2005 - The Environment
Agency’s Operations Delivery team has been
helping conservation colleagues create more
pond and wetland at Preston Montford to
encourage wildlife to set up home in the
Shrewsbury area.
We have created a new pond, linked to an
existing one, in the grounds of Preston
Montford Field-Centre. The existing pond,
which is already home to a number of water
voles, is part of a system for treating
waste-water.
The new pond will create more habitat and,
hopefully, lead to an increase in the vole
population. It will also improve water quality
and provide more educational resources for
the centre by increasing and improving the
habitats to study on site. A new ‘pond dipping
platform’ will help visitors to explore
the pond’s habitats.
In addition to the new pond, we have used
material from the excavation to create a
wildflower area, a beetle bank and a purpose-built
cliff face to encourage sand martins to
build their nests.
One of our biodiversity officers involved
in the project,Simon Cuming adds: "We
are delighted to be able to help create
this new pond. We want to encourage native
plants and wildlife to thrive and projects
like this present a perfect opportunity".
Notes
The Environment Agency’s role in conservation
We have an important role in conservation
and ecology. We can help create an environment
where wildlife can thrive, especially along
rivers and in wetlands. The UK Biodiversity
Action Plan is the Government's plan for
nature conservation. We help achieve its
aims by protecting and enhancing wildlife.
UKBAP promotion work – we have obligations
to help achieve targets for priority habitats
and species set out in the UK Biodiversity
Action Plan (UKBAP).
In particular we have a lead role for 39
species including water vole, European otter,
Marsh warbler, Allis and tawite shad, vendace,
burbot, Bidessus unistriatus. Bidessus minutissimus,
Agabus brunneus, Anisodactylus poeciloides,
Hairy click beetle, River shingle beetles,
White-clawed crayfish, Southern damselfly,
Clorismia rustica, Spiriverpa lunulata,
Glutinous snail, Shining ram’s horn snail,
Little whirlpool ram’s horn snail, Freshwater
pearl mussel, Depressed river mussel, Fine-lined
pea mussel, River jelly lichen, Violet crystalwort,
Freshwater bryozoan, Tiny fern moss, Beaked
beardless moss, Water rock bristle, Stoneworts
(5 species), Ribbon-leaved water plantain,
Cut grass, Triangular club rush, Greater
water-parsnip.
Preston Montford Field Centre ponds
The Environment Agency, with the help of
the Severn Vyrnwy Project, identified the
Preston Montford Field-Centre as a site
which could benefit from wetland creation.
Following discussions with the Field Centre
and with guidance from the Biodiversity
team, our Operations Delivery team have
constructed a large pond linking into the
existing pond (which already has water voles).
This pond has been designed to provide a
range of aquatic habitats which will benefit
a range of wildlife including aquatic plants
and amphibians species.
Any surplus water from the pond will be
used to feed a wet area, further increasing
the range of habitats available to wildlife.
Additionally, a pond-dipping platform is
being constructed to help visitors to the
Field Centre explore the ponds habitats.
Material dug out to form the pond has been
used to create a sand martin cliff, beetle
banks and to provide the seed bed for a
wildflower meadow. The banks are north and
south facing to create different micro-climates
and will, in part, be vegetated with rough
grassland to provide cover for a range of
beetles and insects, other areas will be
left bare to provide a home for a range
of ground-boring insects.
As these features and habitats mature a
range of habitats and ecosystems will develop
which will be of value to all kinds of wildlife
and which will provide a valuable study
resource for the Field Centre and its visitors.
Beetle Bank
Beetle banks are areas of specially planted
grassland reserved for invertebrates and
insects, such as ground beetles and spiders,
at the edges of fields. They were developed
to encourage beneficial insects and there
is evidence that they can help control pest
species on farms, reducing the need for
costly pesticides. They also help to sustain
bird species such as the grey partridge
and song thrush.
Water voles
Water voles need soft river banks in which
to burrow and make their homes and as a
predominantly vegetarian species they also
prefer grass-rich bank side vegetation –
obviously the cladding eliminated these
attributes of the river and left the water
voles without a suitable habitat.
