We believe in ghosts at Home Farm… Ghost Ponds that is
Back in the spring, Jess was looking over some old maps of the Aldenham Estate and noticed that there were once 6 ponds at the top of our meadow (closest to Elstree village). These ponds would have once sustained life for amphibians, insects and birds. It’s likely the ponds would have dried up over time and disappeared naturally; a process called ecological succession due to gradual siltation and trees becoming established.
Rob, the Aldenham Estate’s Biodiversity & Conservation Manager, brings over 30 years of habitat management experience to the team. Rob is actioning the Environment Management Plan set by the Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust, which includes the creation and expansion of habitats across Home Farm. Knowing the signs to look out for, Rob was able to identify where the Ghost Ponds would have once been. One of the tell-tale features he was looking out for were circles of trees which would have once lined the waters edge.
Re-establishing six ponds was going to be a costly exercise, both in terms of resources and people-power. Jess reached out to FWAG, Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, a charity who supports farmers and landowners who see the environment as an important part of a successful farming business, to see whether they may be able to support the restoration project. With their kind grant, we were able to employ contractors with an excavator to de-silt the areas and November’s heavy rainfall helped to fill the ponds!
The restoration of the ponds will help to sustain the wildlife that will, in a few years, be returning to our meadow to live in the hedgerows and trees we planted last winter. Rob and Alice planted 1,600 trees at Home Farm with the help of local businesses and schools, which have been thriving in some areas of the Estate. Sadly, a quarter of the saplings didn’t make it through the heatwave this summer, partly due to the lack of rain but also, disappointingly, due to vandalism. The young trees are starting to appear through the biodegradable tree guards, which, in time, will create habitat and wildlife corridors around Home Farm.
We’re excited to see dragonflies and amphibians being attracted back to our meadow, which due to intensive farming, currently sustains little life. The project helps us along our way to enrich biodiversity, with ponds playing an important role in supporting and complementing other habitats close by. As Rob puts it, “The more ponds the better, as wildlife can move around more easily and create more resilient populations”.
