The Ponds In The Landscape project will be launched by the charity Froglife later this year, thanks to funding from Natural England’s Countdown 2010 Biodiversity Action Fund.

The project launched by charity – which runs the Hampton Nature Reserve with O&H Hampton – will work to stop the declining status of ponds in the Cambridgeshire area by working with farmers, local councils and the public.

Focusing on 16 sites, Ponds In The Landscape will restore and create habitats for a number of target species, including great crested newts and stonewort algae.

The project will help produce management guides for the key pond areas, as well as contributing to a strategy that will put in place actions to make sure pond habitats can be saved in Cambridgeshire.

Froglife’s chief executive Kathy Wormald said: “Ponds are one of the key places for wildlife in the county – they’re crucial for sustaining many rare species, and act as important stepping stones in landscapes that have been fragmented by human activity. They also have important health benefits.

“Our Ponds In The Landscape project will help us bring together the infrastructure for getting ponds, and other areas of standing water in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, adequately protected, now and in future.”

Ponds In The Landscape will benefit the region’s human population, too. Part of the project will focus on innovative ways in which freshwater ecosystems can help prevent floods, as well as enhancing water quality and improving the region’s environmental credentials.