Ray Harrington-Vail, of the Footprint Trust.
THE hunt is on to find more wardens to nurture the Island’s ponds, thanks to funding from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
Isle of Wight Pond Wardens have been in operation for nearly ten years and care for around 70 ponds.
The scheme was set up by Ray Harrington-Vail and Carol Flux, with help from the national conservation charity BTCV and funding from Southern Water. The group is independent but receives support from the Footprint Trust.
All wardens have been trained in the care of management of wildlife ponds, through free training courses by the Footprint Trust.
The group has a shortage of members from the West Wight area but is interested to recruit people from all over the Island.
"Ponds are under threat from a number of directions," said Mr Harrington-Vail, the pond wardens’ tutor.
"Introduction of goldfish and other fish into ponds will soon lead to the loss of important species, such as dragonflies, newts and other amphibians. Pest pond weeds dumped in the wild can soon choke a pond."
"Poor advice from gardening experts telling people to clean out ponds in spring is another issue — this can kill wildlife and damages the natural balance of the pond. We recently got the RHS to change its online advice," Mr Harrington-Vail said.
The scheme welcomes all sizes of ponds into the scheme. Those wishing to become wardens need no previous experience, just a love of ponds.
The exact amount of funding for the scheme has not yet been finalised.
The next training day will be on Saturday, October 2, in the Freshwater area. For more details, contact Mr Harrington-Vail at the Footprint Trust on 01983 822282.
Reporter: suep@iwcpmail.co.uk