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Important Areas for Ponds (IAPs) in the Environment Agency Southern Region Helen Keeble, Penny Williams, Jeremy Biggs and Mike Athanson Report prepared by: Report produced for: Pond Conservation Environment Agency c/o Oxford Brookes University Southern Regional Office Gipsy Lane, Headington Guildbourne House Oxford, OX3 0BP Chatsworth Road, Worthing Sussex, BN11 1LD Acknowledgements We would like to thank all those who took time to send pond data and pictures or other information for this assessment. In particular: Adam Fulton, Alex Lockton, Alice Hiley, Alison Cross, Alistair Kirk, Amanda Bassett, Andrew Lawson, Anne Marston, Becky Collybeer, Beth Newman, Bradley Jamieson, Catherine Fuller, Chris Catling, Daniel Piec, David Holyoak, David Rumble, Debbie Miller, Debbie Tann, Dominic Price, Dorothy Wright, Ed Jarzembowski, Garf Williams, Garth Foster, Georgina Terry, Guy Hagg, Hannah Cook, Henri Brocklebank, Ian Boyd, Jackie Kelly, Jane Frostick, Jay Doyle, Jo Thornton, Joe Stevens, John Durnell, Jonty Denton, Katharine Parkes, Kevin Walker, Kirsten Wright, Laurie Jackson, Lee Brady, Lizzy Peat, Martin Rand, Mary Campling, Matt Shardlow, Mike Phillips, Naomi Ewald, Natalie Rogers, Nic Ferriday, Nick Stewart, Nicky Court, Nicola Barnfather, Oli Grafton, Pauline Morrow, Penny Green, Pete Thompson, Phil Buckley, Philip Sansum, Rachael Hunter, Richard Grogan, Richard Moyse, Richard Osmond, Rufus Sage, Russell Wright, Sarah Jane Chimbwandira, Sheila Brooke, Simon Weymouth, Steph Ames, Terry Langford, Tom Butterworth, Tom Reid, Vicky Kindemba. Cover photograph: Low Weald Pond, Lee Brady Report production: February 2009 Consultation: March 2009 SUMMARY Ponds are an important freshwater habitat and play a key role in maintaining biodiversity at the landscape level. However, they are vulnerable to environmental degradation and there is evidence that, at a national level, pond quality is declining. Until recently, ponds have received relatively little statutory protection. This changed in 2007, when high quality ponds (Priority Ponds) were added to the list of UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Priority Habitats. The Important Areas for Ponds (IAPs) project was set up to identify the location of Priority Ponds and the geographic areas in which Priority Ponds are concentrated. Once identified, IAPs provide a generic resource which can be used to protect ponds and to further the aims of the new Pond Habitat Action Plan. In particular, IAPs raise awareness of the location of pond clusters that support freshwater species or assemblages of regional, national or international significance. They also provide a focus in which to target conservation effort to monitor, manage and create appropriate pond types. This report covers the areas in the South-east of England that fall within the EA Southern Region (Kent, Sussex, the Isle of Wight, and parts of Hampshire and Surrey), and was developed with funding from the Environment Agency. Within this area, Priority Ponds were identified using a standard set of biological criteria, using available data held by a wide range of pond stakeholders. Individual ponds within each IAP were further classified as being of either European or National Importance depending on the species or assemblages they supported. Within the Environment Agency Southern Region, twelve areas were identified for IAP status: • The New Forest and Avon Valley IAP • Newhaven IAP • Thorney Island IAP • Pevensey IAP • Woolmer IAP • Winchelsea IAP • Western Rother Valley IAP • Dungeness IAP • Sussex Heaths IAP • Ashford District IAP • Ashdown IAP • North Kent Marshes IAP Another, larger, IAP covering the central Wealden area was identified for its high concentrations of Great Crested Newts. This GCN IAP spans parts of four counties: Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, and Surrey: • Wealden Great Crested Newt IAP Overall, the assessment of IAPs in the Environment Agency Southern Region highlights the importance of the pond resource, and provides a framework in which to deliver the Pond Habitat Action Plan through practical ‘on the ground’ conservation action that will help to protect the UK’s freshwater biodiversity. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Ponds and their protection ..............................................................................1 1.2 The Important Areas for Ponds (IAP) concept.............................................2 1.3 The National Pond Monitoring Network (NPMN) .......................................3 2 PONDS AND SOUTHERN ENGLAND.............................................................. 4 2.1 Background to the study area .........................................................................4 2.2 The pond resource in Southern England .......................................................4 2.3 Biodiversity importance of ponds in Southern England ..............................5 2.4 Ponds in a wider context..................................................................................6 2.5 Threats and opportunities ...............................................................................7 2.6 Pond protection ................................................................................................9 3 SELECTION OF IMPORTANT AREAS FOR PONDS (IAPS) IN THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY SOUTHERN REGION .......................................... 10 3.1 Definitions.......................................................................................................10 3.2 Overview of IAP selection process................................................................11 3.3 Priority Ponds selection criteria ...................................................................12 3.4 Data collection ................................................................................................15 3.5 Identification of Important Areas for Ponds (IAP) ....................................16 3.6 Data limitation and gaps................................................................................17 4 OVERVIEW...................................................................................................... 19 4.1 Important Areas for Ponds (IAPs) ...............................................................19 5 IMPORTANT AREAS FOR PONDS (IAPS) IN SOUTHERN ENGLAND........ 24 5.1 The New Forest and Avon Valley IAP .........................................................24 5.2 Thorney Island IAP .......................................................................................34 5.3 Woolmer IAP..................................................................................................39 5.4 Western Rother Valley IAP ..........................................................................44 5.5 Sussex Heaths IAP .........................................................................................48 5.6 Ashdown IAP..................................................................................................52 5.7 Newhaven IAP................................................................................................56 5.8 Pevensey IAP ..................................................................................................60 5.9 Winchelsea IAP ..............................................................................................65 5.10 Dungeness IAP................................................................................................69 5.11 Ashford District IAP......................................................................................73 5.12 North Kent Marshes IAP ..............................................................................77 6 WEALDEN GREAT CRESTED NEWT IAP..................................................... 81 6.1 Wealden GCN IAP.........................................................................................81 7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................... 88 7.1 Conclusions.....................................................................................................88 7.2 Recommendations ..........................................................................................89 8 REFERENCES................................................................................................. 92 Appendix 1 List of protected species associated with ponds in Southern England ................................................................................................................95 Appendix 2 Revised Pond Priority Habitat Proposal December 2006..................96 Appendix 3 List of contacts.......................................................................................99 Appendix 4. Overview of datasets collated for the IAP assessment....................101 Appendix 5. Post 1987 10 x 10 km square records for the Small Red Damselfly, Downy Emerald and Hairy Dragonfly..............................................102 1 Introduction 1.1 Ponds and their protection Ponds are increasingly recognised as important freshwater habitats that play a significant role in maintaining freshwater biodiversity at a landscape level. Individually, countryside ponds have, on average, lower species richness at a site level than rivers or lakes, and this has often led to the general assumption that they are less important than these larger habitats. However, the value of ponds lies in the varied network of habitats that they provide, and at a regional level ponds are often more important in