Looking for a short-term volunteer project to start off the new year?
Can you help us hunt for old relict ponds in the landscape?
Can you discover the lost ‘Coast Ghosts’?
Valuable freshwater is being lost from our landscape before our eyes!
Did you know that Norfolk has over 23,000 ponds? However, this is almost one quarter less than there were 100 years ago. But we may be wrong!
Previous research from UCL has estimated the number of marl pit ponds left in Norfolk, but this has not been checked on the ground. Further, if ponds are still present – what condition are they in now?
The Norfolk Ponds Project and University College London are looking for pioneering volunteers to help us with a winter project pond mapping project on the North Norfolk Coast.
Project Pit Stop
In this ground-breaking innovative project, you will firstly, assist us in seeking out the true pond resource that is still present in the Norfolk Coast area, and compare this with historical records. Then you will co-develop with us an online application so that we can find out more about the state of our freshwater resource in Norfolk and assist those who wish to conserve it. We need forward thinking, motivated go-getters ready to connect with nature and challenge themselves to a new adventure!
With funding from the Norfolk Coast AONB (Natural England Nature Recovery Fund), we hope to gain a better understanding of the freshwater resource we have in the form of pond habitat within the Norfolk Coast AONB. Ponds are valuable for wildlife as homes for freshwater species, for food, and for drinking water for animals. This is particularly crucial in drought conditions like we experienced this year. However, many of our original Norfolk marl pit ponds have disappeared over time and many more have become so overgrown with trees that they dry out in summer.
Project Pit Stop includes funding to undertake management on two ponds as an end of project celebration. Will you be the person to find the ‘Coast Ghost’ pond that has the potential to be resurrected and brought back to life, or will you be the volunteer to identify a beautiful wildlife-rich pond that we didn’t even know existed?!!
If being a pond super-sleuth is for you, and you are looking for a short-term project to commit to over the winter months, please sign up here now by Monday 12th December. The project will consist of 4 online workshops on Wednesday evenings from 4th to the 25th January with voluntary exercises in between to feedback on. This will be a full team effort and your findings will be hugely valued and shared at our end of project celebration. Project Pit Stop will culminate with a February pond management weekend to allow us to join together and begin conserving the Norfolk Coast AONB’s forgotten ponds.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
We also have a free Information Evening about the project via Zoom on Weds 7th December being advertised on Eventbrite. If you want to learn more about the project this is the place to come.
Restoring, resurrecting and conserving Norfolk's ponds. 