The Freshwater Habitats Trust is asking citizen scientists to help find ponds that support declining species

More than one in five ponds in the UK could be designated as “priority habitats” but only about 2% have been identified so far.

Priority ponds are recognised as being the highest-quality water spaces for freshwater wildlife, often providing a last refuge for plants and animals that have been lost from surrounding areas. The designation can help preserve ponds threatened by proposed construction and other landscape changes.

Because so many of these water bodies go under the radar, the Freshwater Habitats Trust (FHT) is asking citizen scientists to help identify what could make up more than 20% of Britain’s existing ponds.

The priority pond assessment survey (Pass) has been created by FHT to enable volunteers to help identify potential priority ponds. Dr Naomi Ewald, the technical director at FHT, believes ponds that qualify as a priority are “oases of really valuable habitat that are worth finding and protecting”.

Covered in The Guardian Push to identify ‘priority ponds’ in UK that are refuges for plants and animals