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Seaford Natural History Society – Seaford Head Dewpond Restoration Project
Seaford Head Dewpond Restoration Project
TIME TO AcT!
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A dewpond is an oasis in the desert that is the South Downs, a haven for migrating birds and thirsty mammals, a rendezvous for courting frogs and dragonflies, and a home for those countless invertebrate creatures we call ‘pond life’. Yes, we all know there is plenty of rain on those hills, but the water simply drains away as soon as it falls because chalk is so porous. As a result there are no streams or rivers on the Downs. From Medieval times farmers have solved their herd’s hydration problems by digging dewponds, small round ponds, artificially lined to hold water. There used to be dozens of them on the hills around Seaford and now there is one, up on Seaford Head, beside South Barn. But it is no longer a haven for wildlife, in fact you would be hard pressed to describe it as a pond at all! It is overgrown, choked with an invasive non-native weed, the New Zealand Pygmy Weed, also known as the Australian Swamp Stonecrop. It doesn’t sound attractive and it isn’t! We need to eradiate it and restore the pond into the area of open water it once was, vital to our native wildlife.
Funding from the South Downs Trust has allowed work to begin. By the time you read this the old fences will have been replaced, with the support of STC and SDNPA rangers and volunteers. That was the easy part. Now the hard work begins. The weeds need to be
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gradually removed, before destruction on site to prevent spread to other areas. The work must be done carefully by hand, not only to ensure that we do not damage any existing native wildlife, but also to preserve the original 1996 pond liner. The resulting renovation will benefit our natural wildlife, increase biodiversity in the Nature Reserve and be a source of wonder to the thousands of visitors who walk past it every year.
We need you to volunteer to help. We are creating a ‘Friends’ group to undertake the next stage of the work and to be responsible for the future health of the pond. For more information and to answer any questions we will be at the Dewpond on Saturday March 5th from 10am until 1pm. There will also be an indoor evening meeting on Wednesday March 16th at 7.30pm. in the new Seaford Environmental Alliance Hub (where NatWest Bank used to be), We hope you will join us at one of these meetings.
If you want to be part of the Dewpond Friends Group but are unable to attend either of these meetings, please contact me, Paul Baker, on prbaker2ep@ btinternet.com for further information.
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