Ponds

Although ponds are often thought of as man-made, they may also occur naturally. Types of man-made pond include garden ponds, curling ponds, distillery ponds, mill ponds, peat cutting ponds, marl or gravel extraction ponds. Regardless of whether they are natural or man-made, ponds are important habitats. Small as they are, they may support a diversity of life, and are particularly good habitats for amphibians, such as frogs, toads and newts, and invertebrates, such as dragonflies, snails and water beetles. They are also known to support rare species such as the curious aquatic fern pillwort Pilularia aquatica.

How many ponds?

The Countryside Survey 2007   estimated that Scotland has 198,000 ponds. Lochs may be described as having a surface area of 1 ha or more, whilst ponds may be thought of as water bodies of up to 2 ha in size, so the definition of a pond overlaps with that of, for example, lochans or dystrophic pools. Ponds may be isolated, or may occur as parts of pond complexes, or form important parts of wetland systems.

Ponds may be lost through deliberate infilling, or through natural processes. They may also suffer from pollution. Many ponds were lost or degraded during the 20th Century, but 6% increase in pond numbers occurred between 1998 and 2007, with a considerable number of new ponds being noted in lowland areas. This is good news, but it is hoped that still more high quality ponds will be created, to continue to replace those which have been lost.

How you can help

"The Million Ponds Project" has been set up to encourage creation of new ponds. Information about this is available from Pond Conservation  . There is also information on pond creation in the booklet, "Ponds, Pools and Lochans" available from SEPA's internet site.