Garden Water Features for Learning - Your Schools Take the Lead.

What's become clear in Britain is that we need to re-establish ponds as part of our communities and lives. This has been made public by government, wildlife trusts, conservation organisations and The National Trust. Through policy initiatives and public awareness campaigns we have been told that in the last 100 years in Britain more than 50% of the ponds have disappeared. Estimates are that we used to have over a million. Now there are less than 50000.

It's a mini environmental disaster that's gradually crept up on us and many of our native species have become endangered by it. Except that of course for most of us we don't get a chance to notice that there are fewer voles, newts and toads outdoors. I mean, what child is going to hang out with its mates watching a few frogs jumping up and down when they could be bashing the remote on the latest computer game?

Well believe it or not here in Britain we've got those kids everywhere! What's more they probably exist all around the world.

Today pond water features found in the gardens of homes and in schools make up 80% of Britain's ponds between them. These ponds are being created with a purpose- to support wildlife. At schools the students build them and look after them. They don't need ultra-expensive equipment and the basic rules for success are pretty straight forward.

What's more, the massive support that pond building projects are getting from school students and their communities has meant that the number of ponds being established is still growing. The educational value of a pond as a water feature has not been missed by schools. Just for the wealth of resources that a pond provides for particular study programs like science, art and literature can be a strong enough incentive to make one. But it’s as part of developing learning about social values that pond water features have been just as effective

. By encouraging an awareness and care for the environment, schools give students opportunities to learn to work together. A pond project can encourage students to learn about putting environmentally friendly values in to practice in ways that will be relevant to their futures.

So it's not all doom and gloom and the younger generations aren't lost, neither are they purely and simply screen addicts. There's a lot of awareness out there amongst them and enough of them care to learn about the environment in ways that mean they are making changes for the better. Making this happen at our schools and in our gardens means that water features can be an important part of our way to prepare for an environmentally friendly, sustainable future both at home and in our communities.