20/02/2026
Have you noticed the forest’s ponds looking a little different lately? 👀
While timber harvesting work has been paused during extended wet weather, we have turned our attention to the ongoing restoration of these ponds.
Over many years, the ponds have become blocked by silt and vegetation. But some of them are still home to an important population of great crested newts, which are a European protected species. We are gradually restoring ponds by removing silt and vegetation, cutting back encroaching grass from the edges, and opened up some small areas of new open water. Material we remove from the ponds is spread in carefully chosen areas near the edge, so that any creatures can return to the pond and to keep important nutrients on site.
We wait until winter to work on ponds because this is when great crested newts (and other amphibians) are not in water, but sheltering in surrounding woodland habitat such as log piles, tree roots, and dense leaf litter. They return in spring and - if you look carefully - you'll see frogspawn has already made an appearance 🐸
As spring arrives, the ponds will quickly green up again and newts will return for breeding too. You can do your bit to help wildlife by keeping dogs out of ponds. We know a paddle is super tempting, it's essential that breeding amphibians are left in peace.
