Two more records have been added to the 2026 PondNet #SpawnSurvey! 🐸 One in Helston, Cornwall on 12th December and one in a garden pond in St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly on 17th December. 📸 by Lucy Thresher and Carole Cilia.

New Forest Programme Manager Gemma Stride at @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social explains how her PhD research will uncover the impacts of pollution – and help us understand whether reducing combined sewage overflows will help biodiversity recover. c-js.uk/4rYo4od

⚠️ Did you know the Government is considering exempting all development sites under 0.5 hectares from the Biodiversity Net Gain system? Find out why we're calling for a 0.1 hectare threshold: https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/small-sites-must-not-be-excluded-from-biodiversity-net-gain/

🔎 The first record has been added to the 2026 PondNet Spawn Survey! Iain Garside was out walking when he saw Common Frog spawn on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall on 2nd December. ➡️ https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/frog-spawn-sighting-in-cornwall-is-the-first-for-national-survey/

Proud to join @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social in welcoming Emma Reynolds to a Landscape Recovery site. Together with farmers, we’re restoring ponds, wetlands & floodplains across 8,000 ha to boost biodiversity & support farm businesses. Full story: tinyurl.com/ymh2atp2

The @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social are encouraging people across the UK to participate in the PondNet Spawn Survey, launching on 1st December. Anyone can get involved by recording Common Frog and Common Toad spawn. c-js.uk/4rsuonw

🪲 Invertebrate surveys at the Water Friendly Farming demonstration site have once again highlighted the vital role of new clean water ponds in bringing wildlife back to the countryside – including uncommon species.

⏰ There's one week left to apply for our Central Team Director role! The Director will develop and oversee programmes across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Closes: 21/11/2025 | £50,000 | Permanent | Full-time, hybrid with two days based in Oxford: https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/about-us/jobs/

⚠️ The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be debated by MPs again this Thursday. Please ask your MP to vote to safeguard our most vulnerable habitats and species by supporting Amendment 130. 🔗 Download our template letter: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/lords-v...

Want to do one thing to dramatically increase wildlife? 🦎 Create a pond! The Pond Book will help you to create and manage your wildlife pond. We also take a fresh look at a wide range of management issues and help you decide on the best solutions for your pond. Get your copy here:

A vote in the House of Lords has offered a glimmer of hope for our most vulnerable habitats and species. Will you ask your MP to vote for Amendment 130 and remove the most dangerous element of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill? https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/lords-vote-for-amendment-130/

The new Red List for Vascular Plants published this week by @bsbibotany.bsky.social highlights the serious decline in Britain’s freshwater plants.

📢 We are hiring a Director (Central Team) to develop and oversee programmes across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. 🗓️ Closing date: 21/11/2025 | £50,000 | Permanent | Full-time, hybrid - two days based in Oxford. Find out more and apply here: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/about-us/jobs/

Often overlooked, small water bodies - streams, damp ditches, small bogs, ponds - support more rare species compared with larger habitats while high-quality ponds support about 2/3 of all freshwater plant + animal species in a landscape. 🧵 1/4 freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/start-w...

Next week the planning and infrastructure bill is to be debated in The Lords. This is our last chance to get this right says @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/last-ch...

Great to see Herefordshire’s Ice Age ponds featured in the October issue of British Wildlife magazine 👏 Will Watson, Giles King-Salter and Beth Andrews have written a fascinating article about these ancient waterbodies and their vital importance for biodiversity - including many priority species.

📢 Next week’s Planning & Infrastructure Bill debates will be the last real chance for Parliamentarians to save protected sites and protected species from development under Environmental Delivery Plans.

📢 We are hiring a Director (Central Team) to develop and oversee programmes across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. 🗓️ Closing date: 21/11/2025 | £50,000 | Permanent | Full-time, hybrid - two days based in Oxford. Find out more and apply here: https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/about-us/jobs/

"To build the Freshwater Network, we need to think even bigger – and that means starting with the smallest." Learn why we're focusing on small waters to build the Freshwater Network: https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/start-with-the-smallest-to-make-the-biggest-gains-for-freshwater-biodiversity/

⏰ There’s one week left to help us to map some of the best ponds in England and Wales! Volunteers have been busy helping us to identify potential Priority Ponds, but there's still time to get involved: https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/advice-resources/survey-methods-hub/priority-pond-survey/

Water policy is getting a shakeup in response to outcry at the state of our freshwaters. Including small waters like ponds, streams and ditches in the upcoming Water Reform Bill can bring clean water back to our landscapes. 👉 https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/small-waters-water-reform-bill/

⚠️ We can’t afford to weaken national park protections. We stand with Campaign for National Parks and have joined their calls asking the Prime Minister to not weaken the laws protecting national parks and National Landscapes: www.cnp.org.uk/about/our-wo...

Could your local pond be a Priority Pond? By carrying out a PASS survey, you could help to add it to the map and ensure that it is protected. 🐸 Find out more here, and carry out your survey by October 17th: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/advice-resou...

Scrapping the Climate Change Act would be an act of national self-harm🚨 It inspired laws across the globe, billions in green investment, and a promise to protect future generations🌱 That promise must not be broken⛓️‍💥 Read more👇 www.wcl.org.uk/ripping-up-c... #ClimateChangeAct

A timely report from the Campaign for National Parks with @theriverstrust.bsky.social underlines why we need to prioritise protecting the best remaining freshwaters. Read our blog on the Rivers at Risk Report: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/rivers-... 📷 Lymington River (c) Katharina Brandt/Alamy

There’s four weeks left for our Priority Pond surveys! 🔎 Our fantastic volunteers have completed 180 surveys so far. Could you help us to survey even more ponds? Priority Ponds have high conservation value and we need your help to find them. 👉 freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/.../priority...

Research reveals 24 most important landscapes for freshwater wildlife - @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social Published in Ecological Solutions and Evidence, the research pinpoints the regions – from the Scottish border to Cornwall – that are richest in freshwater plants and animals. c-js.co.uk/3JAaoOF

📢 A new study, published in @aer-ese-bes.bsky.social, sets out the vision for the Freshwater Network – our new national strategy to tackle the crisis facing freshwater species – and identifies the 24 most important landscapes for freshwater wildlife in England and Wales:

⚠️ The Planning and Infrastructure Bill undermines the protection of our rarest habitats and species. It’s an open door to irreversible environmental damage. Without stronger safeguards, protected nature sites are at risk of destruction: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/respons...

🚨 Some of our most exceptionally important habitats, such as ancient ice age ponds, raised bogs and species-rich meadows, are at risk of destruction under the proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill. We call on the Government to ensure these special places are protected. ⬇️

Troubling reports of a second planning bill that will further weaken protections for threatened habitats and species. If the Government proceeds with these reforms, it will have broken entirely with its manifesto pledge to ‘tackle the nature emergency’. Read our full response:

⚠️ We call on the Government to explicitly protect Irreplaceable Habitats in the Planning & Infrastructure Bill, or we risk losing them forever. These habitats, such as lowland fens and ancient woodland, are especially vulnerable to destruction. Once lost, they are impossible to recreate 👇

Are you part of a nature group in England or Wales? Could you help us to identify Priority Ponds? Learn how to carry out a survey on our website, and please help us to spread the word! ➡️ freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/advice-resou...

🔎 Join us and Yorkshire Dragonfly Group this Saturday (16th August) for a guided walk on Strensall MTA in search of dragonflies and damselflies! For full details and to book, visit: freshwaterhabitats.b-cdn.net/app/uploads/...

High quality ponds are vital for life in freshwater, but we don’t know where most of them are. 🐸 Volunteers are helping us to map them so we can protect these vital habitats and the species that depend on them. Find out more and get involved 👉 freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/.../priority...

⚠️ The Planning and Infrastructure Bill remains a threat to nature. The Government has tabled several amendments to Part 3 of the Bill. These amendments have plugged some of the gaping holes in the Bill, but they don’t go far enough. Read our response: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/respons...

The Independent Water Commission published its final report this week. Small waters – like ponds, headwater streams, and small wetlands – will be vital in the long-overdue restoration of our water environment Read our response to the report: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/respons...

Low-intensity livestock grazing is often overlooked as a conservation tool for managing high-quality freshwater habitats. Livestock affect freshwater habitats by: 🌱 Grazing – nibbling and tearing vegetation 🐄 Poaching – churning of wet ground by hooves #FreshwaterNetwork #ProtectTheBest

"While our research has shown that many freshwater species readily bounce back from occasional periods of drought, we know that excessively hot, dry weather year after year can bring more profound long-term changes to both standing and running waters." Read our drought comment: lnkd.in/eYJ6hs6C

Our strategy to build the Freshwater Network involves creating a network of wilder, wetter, cleaner, more connected habitats for wildlife. We need a radical shift to restore the freshwater environment: ➡️https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/five-reasons-why-we-need-the-freshwater-network/

Volunteers are playing a critical role in restoring Oxfordshire's alkaline fens - one of Britain’s most endangered and vulnerable freshwater habitats. Thank you to everyone for giving your time and braving all kinds of weather to make such a difference for freshwater wildlife.

Our CEO @jeremybiggs.bsky.social is a co-author of a paper in Hydrobiologia on the complex interplay between physical characteristics, land use and climate on nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in ponds. This research was part of the EU Horizon 2020 #PONDERFUL project. 👉 rdcu.be/eqrhl

On Friday, we welcomed two Secretaries of State - Steve Reed and Ed Miliband - to Hinksey Heights Fen in Oxford. We gave the Ministers a tour and explained how restoration is bringing back rare species to one of our most vulnerable freshwater habitats. 👉 freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/secreta...

Northamptonshire farmers have given local wildlife a major boost by creating new ponds through our Pitsford Water Friendly Farming project. 💧🪲 Find out more about the fantastic results for wetland plants: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/new-pon...

I did the very quick and easy PASS method for assessing priority ponds devised by @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social on 3 ponds today (between 3-19 years old) I already had a good idea, the Bladderwort and Fen Pondweed were good clues as to the importance of these ponds; all were Priority Ponds

💦 Protecting the best remaining freshwater biodiversity hotspots is at the heart of the Freshwater Network. And with its pristine freshwater habitats and diversity of species, what better example do we have than the New Forest? ➡️ freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/the-pri... #ProtectTheBest

Our Wild Oxfordshire Curlew Recovery Project volunteers have recently spotted a Curlew nest! 🐣 All eggs hatched and at least two chicks have since been observed. Each year, the volunteers monitor the number of breeding pairs, nests and fledged chicks in the Ock. Photo credit: Darryl Campling

The first of our Marsh Helleborines (Epipactis palustris) are *just* coming into flower. Near Threatened in England and Scarce in Oxon, they're flourishing here thanks to our conservation work. 😍 #WildFlowerHour #Orchids @bsbibotany.bsky.social @judywebb.bsky.social @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social 🌍

#ProtectTheBest is the principle at the heart of the Freshwater Network. This radical concept for freshwater means identifying the best habitats and making their protection our priority: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/we-cant... 📸 Freshwater Pearl Mussel: Andrew Shaw, Frogbit: Ross Birnie

Last-minute change to the line up! We welcome @samtasker.bsky.social to talk about how the @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social Headstart project will kickstart nature recovery by restoring headwaters. Want to come? Hurry! There are only 8 in-person tickets left and registration closes on Sunday.