Hive Wildlife Pond
As part of our projects to boost biodiversity around the Parliament Hill area of Hampstead Heath, we’ve recently created a new wildlife pond from scratch. Ponds are key habitats for a range of wildlife, such as amphibians and invertebrates and indirectly support other key species, such as bats.
Why build a pond?
While Hampstead Heath may be famous for its larger wildlife ponds and swimming ponds, small ponds like ours provide specialist ‘microhabitats’, as well as offering education opportunities with activities such as pond dipping which are great for schools and community outreach. Our wildlife pond will enable us to observe freshwater species more closely, and teach others about our valuable wetland habitats.
Our wildlife pond, sporting some gorgeous water lillies.
Check out this video taken by the Heath’s ecologist earlier in the year showing what’s going on under the surface…
How we built our pond:
Step 1: Start digging
Work began in December 2024, with our youth volunteers creating the first imprint of the pond and starting to dig the area. The work was then carried on by session leaders and staff.
Step 2: Weave a fence
We then built a handwoven willow fence around the pond area to prevent people from falling in and keep dogs out, as dog flea treatments can be detrimental to pondlife, especially in a small body of water.
Step 3: Line and Seal
The pond was then lined with concrete and reused slabs (as well as a pond liner), to reduce the risk of the liner being damaged and the pond water leaking out.
Step 4: Filling up
After lining ‘shelves’ were added inside the basin for plants, which were filled with washed gravel. These were planted up with freshwater plant species, and the pond was allowed to fill naturally with rainwater.
You can read more about the creation of the pond (and watch some behind-the-scenes videos!) in our blogpost here.