Desilting the pond to improve habitat and biodiversity
In October and November 2025, the River Stewardship Company carried out major works to de-silt around 50% of Carr Forge Pond. The work also included creating new banking along the pond margins using natural materials, with the excavated reed and silt placed behind coir logs.
Over the following weeks, initial enabling works focused on clearing access routes for machinery and removing tangled, overhanging tree growth around the brook that feeds into the pond. This preparation will support future wet woodland creation.
Ebsford Environmental then undertook the main excavation using an 8-tonne amphibious excavator. Reeds and accumulated silt were removed as far as possible, stopping at the clay liner that protects the pond base. The large machine proved highly effective, enabling the team; through its size and the operator’s skill to clear over 70% of the pond area, excluding the protected historic dam zone.
The final stage involved creating additional wetland habitat by scraping low-lying ground near the brook’s inlet.
The new embankments will be planted with native wetland species to improve habitat diversity and ecological value, while the inward flow to pond now has a silt collection point to help reduce further silting of the open water.
This successfully expanded the wetland area and introduced new backwaters and meanders along the brook’s outflow, enhancing both hydrology and biodiversity.
Positive environmental impact
The volume of the pond that was excavated, is approx. 2,000m3 which would equate to around 3,500t of material. By keeping the excavated materials and re-using it all on site, it is estimated that the following was saved:
- 250 wagon loads kept off the road.
- A carbon reduction of 75,000kg (based on 1kg per km, 250 loads and a 300km round trip to Peterborough)
- That’s about 250,000 miles in an ICE car or round the world 10 times (in terms of CO2)
- The equivalent of planting 375 trees for 10 years (assuming 20kgs per tree per annum)
- 3,500t diverted from landfill (almost 2 Olympic sized swimming pools).
What are the advantages to species?
The open body of water will provide an ideal feeding and foraging ground for the Daubenton’s bats we have on site and hopefully encourage more. Daubenton’s bats usually feed within about 6km of the roost. They take insects from close to the water and have even been seen taking prey directly from the water surface, using their large feet or the tail membrane as a scoop.
Bird species such as the kingfisher will use this habitat for fishing. Kingfishers are vulnerable to habitat degradation through pollution or poor management of watercourses. Improving this habitat, alongside installing a kingfisher nesting bank further along the brook, will encourage and support kingfishers in this area. These birds are listed as a Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, which offers them additional protection.
The improved habitat will also encourage amphibians, newts and the common toad. The smooth newt is another species protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. Newts breed in ponds during the spring and spend most of the rest of the year feeding on invertebrates in woodland, hedgerows, marshes and tussocky grassland. They hibernate underground, among tree roots and in old walls.
This project is funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund and other partner funding. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm’s-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency. A whole programme of activity across the Valley will create, restore and enhance habitats to support and protect the species living here and encourage new ones to thrive.
Shire Brook Valley Nature Reserve 