On The Pull
On Sunday 13th of November the Kentish Stour
Countryside Project’s intrepid volunteers braved knee-high mud to help
remove choking reeds from the Electronics Pond at the University of Kent.
The pond provides a vital refuge for local wildlife,
currently supporting a wealth of amphibians including common frogs, smooth
and palmate newts despite the presence of the exotic Koi Carp who often
‘snack’ on these smaller inhabitants. Small mammals and a range of
interesting invertebrates, including dragonflies, also make use of the
area and attract larger species including birds such as moorhens, mallards
and grey herons.
The reeds do provide valuable habitat but some areas of
open water are also crucial to maintaining wildlife variety. Eight KSCP
volunteers turned out including students from the campus and set about
their work lead by Countryside Officer Jason Mitchell.
Given the location of the pond the team was not
surprised to retrieve three traffic cones and a substantial collection of
bottles from the muddy depths. Amy Godfrey, a student at the university,
acknowledges that "Recycling facilities on campus aren’t what they
should be, but you can recycle your glass outside Woody’s in Park Wood
rather than throw it in the pond where it can be fatal to inquisitive
wildlife. There is no excuse for littering". But she also appreciates
the growing concerns of the student population, "The younger
generation are often stigmatised as irresponsible in their attitudes
towards the environment but there are students who want to do more and are
making efforts to improve their facilities". As a final thought she
suggests that, rather than being thrown away, traffic cones can make
lovely decorative light fittings!
