Why we can’t afford to lose the last high-quality freshwaters

Prioritising the most wildlife-rich, unpolluted habitats is the key to reversing the decline in freshwater biodiversity, says Freshwater Habitats Trust Technical Director Dr Naomi Ewald.

The Freshwater Network is our response to the crisis facing freshwaters. At its heart is a deceptively simple principle: ‘protect the best’. But what does this really mean and why is it such a critical part of our vision?

From these hotspots, we can build out and establish more high-quality habitats allowing species to spread to new sites and respond to climate change. But we have no hope of extending the network of unpolluted standing and running waters without first safeguarding the best places that will form the foundation for recovery.

How is this different from the current approach?

‘Protect the best’ is a radical concept for freshwater. Historically, the UK’s freshwater conservation effort has focused on trying to repair damage, which has meant focusing on the most polluted, degraded habitats. It’s reactive, expensive, and – sadly – it is often unsuccessful. The Freshwater Network flips this on its head. It’s a proactive approach that prioritises our highest value sites.  

Of course, we need to clean-up the whole freshwater environment and the Freshwater Network approach will bring unpolluted water back to our towns and countryside. Before we try to fix what’s broken, however, we must first make sure we don’t lose what’s still working.

• Important Freshwater Areas: These are smaller areas of significant biodiversity value, often home to threatened species or habitats of exceptional quality. From stretches of rivers that are home to threatened species like Freshwater Pearl Mussel, to tiny calcareous springs and flushes supporting endangered aquatic craneflies and rare mosses, Important Freshwater Areas represent the most critically important habitats for freshwater wildlife. They encompass many of the individual waterbodies and habitats that support some of the UK’s most endangered species. Flagship Ponds sites, for example, are home to the small standing waters that we have classified as being the ‘best of the best’ Priority Ponds. Several Flagship Pond sites – such as Cothill Fen in Oxfordshire, Skipwith National Nature Reserve in North Yorkshire, and Llyn Tegid in Wales – are home to species on the brink of extinction. Many of these places are geographically isolated so the network will form connections between them, allowing species to expand their range. 

What it means on the ground

The principle of protecting the best shapes how we work on the ground and where we focus our effort. 

In the New Forest, for example, we work with partners including the New Forest National Park Authority, Environment Agency, Natural England, and local landowners and volunteers to manage some of the UK’s finest remaining freshwater habitats.  

This is a landscape of ancient bogs, valley mires, and ephemeral pools, including many Flagship Ponds. Here, our focus is on working in partnership to maintain the Forest’s pristine freshwater environment to protect rare species like Coral Necklace, Fairy Shrimp and Pillwort by reducing the threats from recreation, pollution, and invasive non-native species. Our work spans hands-on conservation work to expand the Forest’s rich freshwaters to promoting responsible enjoyment of the New Forest to its thousands of visitors.

Shifting the conversation

Protecting the best also means influencing people. Many of our most valuable freshwater sites fall outside the statutory protected area network. Ponds, for example, are typically overlooked and left out of legal protection, but collectively support more biodiversity than rivers or lakes.  

Through our work on Priority Ponds, we’re ensuring that more of the most important small waters are identified and recognised. Freshwater Habitats Trust played an instrumental role in securing priority habitat status for ponds in 2007. Since then, we’ve worked with Natural England to record more of the country’s best ponds, including inviting people to volunteer by carrying out surveys to identify potential Priority Ponds. Identifying Priority Ponds (now a habitat of principal importance) helps agencies, organisations and individuals to protect and enhance ponds and the critical freshwater wildlife they support.  

Our guidance for Responsible Authorities producing Local Nature Recovery Strategies highlighted the critical importance of including the whole freshwater environment in these plans. One of the aims of this guidance was to support Responsible Authorities to identify the freshwaters that provide the greatest benefits to wildlife, including rare and threatened species, so they can protect them.