Newts and developers benefitting from pioneering scheme
31st January 2025
A report published today has revealed that 84% of pond sites created through a pioneering scheme that replaces habitat lost to development are colonised by Great Crested Newts after three or more years. The research also shows that individual ponds created or restored through the scheme are more than twice as likely to be occupied by great crested newts than the average English pond.
The national scheme is entirely funded by developers and does not rely on any public money. It creates at least four new ponds for any pond occupied by Great Crested Newts, which is lost to development.
The new report is from the Newt Conservation Partnership, which was formed by two national conservation charities: Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Freshwater Habitats Trust. The report includes monitoring data on ponds created and restored for the NatureSpace District Licensing Scheme between 2018 and 2024.
Great Crested Newts have declined dramatically over the last 50 years and are protected by UK law. Habitat loss is the biggest threat to the iconic species and developers are required by law to compensate for their proposed impacts, which they can do by funding pond restoration and creation.
- A Great Crested Newt - each has a unique pattern.
The approach in this scheme, which is called ‘District Licensing’, is to create new habitats in strategic locations away from major development. The scheme now operates in nearly 70 local authorities and is a faster, cheaper, high-quality alternative for developers to standard licensing. Regulated by Natural England, the scheme stays ahead of development impacts by providing a bank of new ponds so that development is not held up.
Because Great Crested Newts spend most of their lives on land, returning to ponds only to breed, the partnership also creates or restores the land around ponds to provide high-quality habitat throughout the amphibian’s life cycle.
Sites are carefully chosen to ensure ponds will be pollution-free and can act as ‘stepping-stone habitats’ for existing great crested newt populations. This means the animals can spread into new sites from existing hotspots, helping the species to recover and providing resilience for populations.
To produce its monitoring report, the Newt Conservation Partnership carried out a range of surveys, including using sensitive environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques to analyse genetic material and detect the presence of Great Crested Newts, as well as more traditional methods, such as egg searches and night torch surveys.
Newt Conservation Partnership CEO Dr Pascale Nicolet said: “Our monitoring work clearly shows that our clean water ponds are providing new havens for Great Crested Newt populations and other animals and plants. Together, we’re making an important and long-term contribution to both amphibian conservation and nature recovery.
“Crucially, we’re not just focusing on the quality of individual ponds but taking a landscape-scale approach to conservation, so habitats are in the right places to make a real difference. Bringing together the expertise of two environmental charities with decades of knowledge and experience in habitat creation and restoration means we can give Great Crested Newts what they need: clean, unpolluted water and high-quality terrestrial habitat located in the right place so they can naturally colonise.”
- Newt Conservation Partnership CEO Dr Pascale Nicolet carrying out a plant survey at a site in Sussex.
NatureSpace CEO Dr Tom Tew said: “We know the scheme provides a brilliant solution for speeding up development. There are no seasonal surveys or other delays for developers and it’s popular too with our Planning Authority partners. These fantastic results demonstrate unequivocally how good it is for newts.
“We know the government wants to speed up growth and this scheme is the strategic solution, offering a win-win for nature and development.”
The report also shows that new populations of rare plants and priority species are rapidly colonising the Newt Conservation Partnership’s clean water ponds. A wetland plant survey showed that Newt Conservation Partnership ponds averaged 17 species, against a national average in wider countryside ponds of seven. The survey also revealed that five plant species classed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species are now supported by the ponds. More than half of Newt Conservation Partnership ponds are now classed as ‘priority ponds’, a national designation for ponds with particularly high conservation value.
Professor Jeremy Biggs, CEO of Freshwater Habitats Trust, said: “The results demonstrate the value of creating high-quality, clean water ponds in the right place – and how quickly results can be achieved. As sites become established, Great Crested Newts and other freshwater animals and plants colonise the ponds and surrounding terrestrial habitat.
“This is why we are seeing particularly positive results for the more mature ponds and the colonisation rate of Newt Conservation Partnership ponds is increasing each year.”
Tony Gent, CEO of ARC said: “It is incredibly rewarding to witness tangible results that demonstrate the success of national pond restoration. However, these achievements did not occur by chance. They are the product of a dedicated and skilled team of practitioners executing a well-supported, conservation-focused programme. We remain committed to ensuring that these hard-won gains are sustained for the benefit of future generations.”
- Two of five new clean water ponds created in Berkshire.
Sone of the sites where the Newt Conservation Partnership has created or restored ponds
Area around Yardley Chase Site of Special Scientific Interest
The partnership has restored and created 40 ponds in this SSSI in Northamptonshire. This new habitat compensates for development impacts in West Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes local planning authorities. Great Crested Newts are spreading out from the SSSI into the new habitats, which have also been found to support the nationally-rare red pondweed.
Boothby Wildland
Through the Network Rail organisational licence, the Newt Conservation Partnership has created five new clean water ponds and restored an existing pond on a rewilding site and former arable farm in Lincolnshire, which is now managed by Nattergal. Despite no evidence of Great Crested Newts on the site previously, the ponds now support a growing population.
Woorgreens and Crabtree Hill
Great Crested Newts are now breeding successfully at this site in the Forest of Dean, where the Newt Conservation Partnership has created 10 ponds since 2019. The growing pond complex is also popular with common toads and is rich in aquatic plants, including two Near Threatened species, marsh pennywort and marsh St John’s-wort.
Click here to download the report.