District Licencing Scheme for Great Crested Newts across Cheshire
The heavy soils of the Cheshire plain lend themselves to holding water, and where there is standing water there is a pond. Ponds support an immense number of plants and animals. They are particularly good for invertebrates like the large red damselfly, common darter and broad-bodied chaser dragonflies, the rare lesser water measurer and the protected lesser silver water beetle.
Ponds are homes for amphibians including the protected great crested newt, common toad, smooth newt and palmate newt. Water voles burrow into their soft banks, and bats skim the water in search of insects. Birds, such as swans, moorhens and tufted ducks rely on ponds for feeding and nesting, while waders like lapwing, redshank and snipe probe the muddy margins for invertebrates.
Across Cheshire our extensive network of ponds proide vital stepping stones between isolated patches of habitat, linking up the countryside and allowing species to move about freely. Over the past 4 years Cheshire West & Chester Council and Cheshire Wildlife Trust have operated as delivery bodies for Natural England’s District Level Licensing Scheme to support developers paying for mitigation activities across the Cheshire landscape to help existing populations of Great Crested Newts to grow and thrive.
So far, over 250 ponds have been created, restored and are being monitored with the cooperation of more than 100 landowners throughout the county. The benefits of ponds and wetlands are far ranging in terms of ecosystem services. Some of these benefits can be monetised at, at least, £7329-10,750 per hectare per year when creating ponds on arable farmland.
Great Crested Newt