Loader

INSPECTION OF 30 POND SITES WITH THE LIFE AMPHICON CONSTRUCTION PLANNING TEAM

INSPECTION OF 30 POND SITES WITH THE LIFE AMPHICON CONSTRUCTION PLANNING TEAM

This year the time has finally come to renaturalize the ponds in the Felchowseegegebiet.

The association will renaturalize about 30 ponds to create aquatic habitats for the fire-bellied toad and other amphibians in the region. Although there is plenty of water in the Felchowsee area, suitable spawning habitats for amphibians – free of fish, sunny and sometimes drying out – are now in short supply.

The ideal pond is not too deep, easily accessible from the shore, sunny but not too warm, and above all, fish-free!

Ponds remain fish-free when they dry out temporarily or are simply too shallow for fish to colonize. Unfortunately, hobby anglers release fish into larger ponds, creating a predator that decimates the tadpoles or already eats the spawn. This should not happen in our renaturalized ponds. That is why we will put up information boards at accessible locations to highlight the importance of fish-free waters for amphibians.

On 8.2.2023 we, Florian Bibelriether (Amphi International), Hermann Wiesing (Agrar- und Umweltplanung – Hermann Wiesing) and Gabriele J. Kowalski (Nationalparkverein Unteres Odertal), drove to the Felchowsee area and surveyed the selected sites for our ponds. In winter, these sites look quite different than in summer. Ideally, all sites should have water in winter, but unfortunately this was not the case everywhere. The dry conditions of the past few years have prevented reservoirs from filling during the winter. So sites are dry or have small puddles where normally there was a pond in the winter. It was shocking to visit Lake Felchow, we stood on the actual shoreline and could only guess the actual shoreline, it was so far away.

We hope that our measures can support the conservation of the amphibians and are now planning the next steps. Tenders will follow, contractors will be selected, and then in autumn (August/September) we will start digging. By winter 2024, all ponds should be completed so that the first amphibians can visit in the spring of 2024.

1st photo: Florian Bibelriether, Hermann Wiesing, Gabriele J. Kowalski

2nd photo: A dried pond will provide a suitable habitat for amphibians in the future thanks to the renaturation measures of LIFE AMPHICON.

3rd photo:  Looking towards the strongly shifted shoreline, this photo shows the Felchowsee and its dry lake bottom. 

Photo: LIFE AMPHICON Archive