Forestry Commission Builds New Homes for Great Crested Newts in Herefordshire

30/06/2007 00:00:00 The Forestry Commission is creating several ponds in Herefordshire this week to provide new habitats for Great Crested Newts, a species that has experienced a severe decline over the last 50 years.

The ponds are being built at Shobdon Hill Wood near Leominster. They are being created close to a number of other sites where there are already Great Crested Newts so that the newts can migrate to the new ponds, increasing the amount of habitat available for the species and allowing the population to increase. Great Crested Newts are Britain’s largest and most threatened newt. They are a protected species and are identified in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as needing help. Brian Hicks from the Forestry Commission in the West Midlands says:

‘The Forestry Commission places a high priority on increasing biodiversity in the woods and forests that it owns and looks after. One of the objectives in the Biodiversity Action Plan is to encourage the natural dispersal of Great Crested Newts to new sites through habitat management and re-creation. So we thought that Shobdon Hill Wood would be an ideal place to make a contribution towards these efforts.’

Great Crested Newts can grow up to 16 centimetres in length and are generally dark brown to black in colour with a warty appearance, which gives the species its other common name, the warty newt. The also have a bright orange underside with black markings that are unique to each individual. They live in large fishless ponds with abundant weeds. They usually feed on a range of aquatic invertebrates but occasionally will also tackle larger prey such as other newts and dragonflies.

The reduction in the number of Great Crested Newts is believed to have been caused by a number of factors, including water table reduction, in filling for development, farming, waste disposal, pollution and the toxic effects of agrochemicals.

The plan is to make several dams in a stream that runs through Shobdon Hill Wood and so create the new ponds. The Herefordshire Wildlife Trust has advised the Forestry Commission on how best to create the ponds and the Environment Agency is helping to fund this important work.

As well as creating new homes for the Great Crested Newts, the work will also help a number of other species, such as amphibians and reptiles that rely on ponds to provide a suitable habitat.

For more information on some of the many different species that can be found in Britain’s woods, and the best places to see them, visit www.forestry.gov.uk/wildwoods.