Fleet Pond's Wildlife secures £100,000 in funding
Works began on improvements back in November 2022.
In partnership with Natural England, the Rural Payments Agency has enabled Hart District Council's Countryside Service to secure over £100,000 to support improvements for wildlife at Fleet Pond.
Fleet Pong is Hampshire's largest freshwater lake, and The Countryside Service has been operating with organisations such as the Fleet Pond Society. Work has been ongoing to improve and create more favourable conditions for wildlife at the Pond.
Hart District Council’s Biodiversity Officer, Mike Barry, said: “With the current biodiversity crisis both in the UK and globally, we were pleased to secure this funding which has allowed us to start a new phase of improvements at Fleet Pond.
"This includes new techniques such as floating island bio-havens for wetland fowl to avoid disturbance and installing wooden debris reefs for fish and invertebrates to flourish. We can continue to enhance Fleet Pond’s ability to support a range of wildlife through the improvement of its habitats, which will also support the site’s resilience.”
Open pools of water will be created, benefiting a wide range of species such as the little egret, emperor dragonfly, common toad and marsh pennywort. Scrapes will also create important areas of bare ground, helping nesting birds.
The works, which began back in November will also include the clearance of hard-to-reach scrubland areas and the addition of marshland scrapes. The removal of scrub build-up will increase water retention within the marshes, allowing some of the site’s reedbeds to reconnect, and means more light will be able to reach the water.
The extra funding will also allow additional waterlilies and reed plugs will be planted, improving the overall diversity and abundance of aquatic plants in the pond.
Waterlilies were once common on the site and will be reintroduced using cuttings from the nearby Little Pond. The bogbean plant is also being introduced to help reduce the effect of geese grazing on the fresh aquatic plant growth, allowing quicker, more successful plant establishment.
Due to the remote locations of Fleet Pond and the areas of improvement, there will be minimal disruption to the public.