Irish Pond Survey Report 2023

Ponds - A Guide for Local Authorities

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The Importance of Ponds for Wildlife 

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How to Create & Manage a Pond for Wildlife

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Contacts and Further Information

Local Authorities Water Programme (LAWPRO): An organisation aimed at identifying issues affecting water quality in Ireland and collaborating with relevant local authorities, public bodies and water stakeholders to find solutions. Community engagement is at the core of their work, assuring local and expert knowledge is harnessed to help achieve the best results.

National Biodiversity Data Centre: Collects, manages, and analyses data and provides information on Ireland’s Biodiversity.

Invasive Species Ireland: Cross-border venture which provides advice and resources for stakeholders, in addition to carrying out risk assessment, policy development, education and awareness activities, research and development of invasive species action plans.

Inland Fisheries Ireland: State agency responsible for the protection, management and conservation of Ireland’s inland fisheries and sea angling resources.

Environmental Protection Agency: State agency focused on the protection, improvement and restoration of our environment through regulation, scientific knowledge, and collaboration –

National Parks and Wildlife Service: A statutory body responsible for the conservation of habitats and species in Ireland.

Freshwater Habitats Trust: a UK based charity, and project partner of Legacy4LIFE, working to conserve freshwater wildlife for everyone to enjoy.

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) Aquatic Plant Project: aimed at improving aquatic plant identification skills and increasing recording across Ireland. Resources from the project, including webinars, are free to view.

PONDERFUL (POND Ecosystems for Resilient Future Landscapes in a changing climate): a H2020 “Research and Innovation Programme” project funded by the European Union within the Call: Inter-relations between climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust: UK wetland conservation charity with new campaign on how to create mini-wetlands.

Further Reading

 - Cereghino R, Biggs J, Oertli B, Declerk S (2007) ‘The ecology of European ponds: defining the characteristics of a neglected freshwater habitat. Hydrobiologia’ 597(1): (1-6.)

- Oertli B, Biggs J, Cereghino R, Grillas P, Joly P, Lachavanne J-B (2005) Conservation and monitoring of pond biodiversity. Aquatic Conservation Marine & Freshwater Ecosystems 15(6): 535-540. 

- Gilbert, PJ., Taylor, S., Cooke, DA., Deary M, Cooke M, Jefferies MJ et al. (20174) Variations in sediment organic carbon among different types of small natural ponds along Druridge Bay, Northumberland, UK. Inland Waters. 4(1), 57-64.

- Taylor, S., Gilbert, PJ., Cooke, DA.,Deary M, Jefferies MJ  et al. (2019) High carbon burial rates by small ponds in the landscape. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 17(1), 25-31.

- Trodd W, O’Boyle S, Gurrie M (2022) Water Quality in Ireland 2016-2021. Environmental Protection Agency, Wexford.

- Ramsar (2022) Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands “Wetlands Action for People and Nature” Geneva, Switzerland, and Wuhan, China 5-13 November 2022.

- Robotham J, Old G, Rameshwaran P, Sear D, Gasca-Tucker D, Bishop J, Old J, McKnight D et al., (2021)’ Sediment and Nutrient Retention in Ponds on an Agricultural Stream: Evaluating Effectiveness for Diffuse Pollution Mitigation. Water.’13(12) https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121640.

Acknowledgements

EU LIFE, DHLGH (Department of Housing, Local Government, and heritage), An Taisce, European Climate Fund