£1,000 Award being offered for pond and wetland conservation

Thursday, July 30 2009 14:06:36 by Editor

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is offering a £1,000 prize for the best backyard wetland.

Wetland, that could be found in gardens or on local land, includes boggy areas, ponds, streams and lakes.

The number of these areas in Britain is in decline according to the WWT and it is now keen to document the extent of the demise before continuing with its strategy to help regenerate them.

According to the trust, wetland is critical for a number of different reasons including being home to wildlife, storing clean water and helping to reduce climate change by storing carbon.

The WWT said: "We've lost a huge number of small wetlands such as ponds, bog gardens and streams over the last century, which is really bad news for wildlife and for people. But the good news is wetlands are one of the quickest habitats to create.

"WWT wants to help everyone to build and to care for their own small wetland."