Four pondweeds have been rediscovered at Abbey Farm in ponds that have generally supported no pondweeds during the last 40 years. In 2016 we kept wildfowl off a small section of pond. In this area pondweed growth was prolific, unlike anything seen for many years. Among this was a was a more numerous and diverse range of invertebrates and other freshwater life. There’s a summary and more detailed account on our website.

We believe that feral Greylag and Canada Geese are responsible for the majority of pondweed grazing here. We therefore intend to keep their numbers as low as possible through frightening, which has worked well this autumn.