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The success of the Water Friendly Farming approach is being echoed in Northamptonshire, where the creation of clean water ponds has boosted wetland plant biodiversity by nearly 25%.
Landowners near Pitsford Reservoir worked with Freshwater Habitats Trust, Anglian Water and the Environment Agency on the Pitsford Water Friendly Farming initiative. In just two years, the project not only increased the number of wetland plant species across the whole landscape by nearly a quarter, it also more than doubled the number of uncommon plant species.
The results mirror those seen at the original Water Friendly Farming demonstration site in Leicestershire, where adding new ponds has increased biodiversity by 18% and more than doubled the number of rare or uncommon species.
As part of the Pitsford Water Friendly Farming project, 22 new clean water ponds were created and 10 existing ponds were managed. Natural flood management features, such as flood storage basins and leaky dams, were also added to prevent sediment from running off into the surrounding land and to temporarily store flood water. The measures were introduced in unproductive farmland areas to increase biodiversity and reduce flood risk without impacting on farm productivity.
The first surveys, carried out in 2021 before measures were introduced, found 71 different species of wetland plants, including 17 uncommon species, across the site’s ponds, streams and ditches. By 2024, with new clean water ponds and other features in place, this number had increased to 84, with many new species appearing.
Research carried out by Freshwater Habitats Trust showed that – of all the measures introduced – creating new ponds made the biggest difference, with these ponds supporting the greatest number of species, including those that were new to the area. Uncommon species found in the most recent surveys included Marsh Willowherb, Orange Foxtail, Blunt-flowered Rush and the nationally-scarce Clustered Stonewort, which was recorded for the first time in the region.
The number of ponds on the site that are classed as ‘priority ponds’ – a national designation for the highest quality ponds – more than tripled, from four to 13.
Pitsford Water Friendly Farming is funded by Anglian Water and the Environment Agency. It builds on the long-running Water Friendly Farming project, which is a collaboration between Freshwater Habitats Trust, The Environment Agency, University of York, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Allerton Project.