Featured project – Bournemouth University’s Pond

Bournemouth University Staff and students from the departments of Archaeology & Anthropology, and Life and Environmental Sciences, have been working hard at St Luke’s Primary school in Bournemouth with their students to create a new wildlife pond area. Students from the school entered a pond design competition and the best designs were selected.

We started at the end of January on a very cold and frosty day to clear the vegetation, trim back the trees, create a compost heap and dig the pond. Pond underlay was laid beneath the new pond liner which had been dug into the ground to secure it. Railway sleepers were added as a bridge between the two ponds. The students from St Luke’s helped to dig the pond, lay the liner and add plants to the pond and its surrounding area. The students also made bug hotels which will shortly be installed to the pond area.

Local fire fighters from Springbourne Fire Station kindly came to fill the ponds with 3500 litres of water! When we returned in March to add the pond plants (pic 6) and bark chips (pic 7) there was already signs of wildlife (pic 8). Newts and frogs had moved into the pond! The bark chips were donated by Eco Sustainable Solutions and all of our rubbish was removed by Cool Loft Conversions.

Once the pond is more established, we will be having a grand opening and students will carry out pond dipping activities each year to see which wildlife inhabits the pond. Undergraduate students from Bournemouth University’s Life and Environmental Science department will continue to work with St Luke’s students each year to identify the wildlife, and to teach the children about how we can create a better environment for animals and insects.

 

For more on this wonderful pond, please check here