We’re thrilled to announce that the latest monitoring report from our partners at the Newt Conservation Partnership, published on 3rd February 2024, shows that great crested newts have already colonised more than half of pond sites created through our District and Organisational Licensing schemes.  

Great crested newts have declined dramatically over the last 50 years, largely due to the loss of terrestrial habitat and breeding ponds across the landscape. NatureSpace’s schemes put high-quality ponds back into the landscape to halt the decline in the species and help restore historic losses. 

All compensation habitat delivered under the NatureSpace District Licensing and Organisational Licensing schemes is created, restored and managed by our expert partners at the Newt Conservation Partnership (NCP).  The habitat is designed to secure and expand existing populations of great crested newts, while also delivering a huge range of wider ecological benefits. An extensive monitoring programme runs alongside compensation delivery to ensure we are delivering conservation gains for the species at a landscape scale. 

The latest report, which includes monitoring data on pond sites created and restored between 2018 and 2024 reveals that so far: 

• 84% of mature compensation sites have been colonised by great crested newts, demonstrating the success of the spatial conservation strategy in promoting natural colonisation and local population expansion.
• Overall, even though our ponds are young, you are more than twice as likely to find great crested newts in any of our compensation ponds than the average English pond. 
• Plant diversity in our compensation ponds was more than 2.5 times greater than the average for ponds in the wider landscape, with regionally and nationally rare plant species making an appearance.
• More than half of our ponds over a year old have been awarded ‘Priority Pond’ status due to their high conservation value –compared to just 8% of ponds in the wider countryside.
• Under the Licensing schemes, 4 high-quality ponds have been made for every GCN pond lost to development – in doing this we have delivered more than 2.5 times the aquatic compensation required to satisfy the legal requirements of the scheme.

NatureSpace CEO Dr Tom Tew said “We know the scheme provides a brilliant solution for speeding up development, there are no seasonal surveys or other delays for developers and it’s popular too with our Planning Authority partners. These fantastic results demonstrate unequivocally how good it is for newts.  We know the government want to speed up growth and this scheme is a strategic solution offering a win-win for nature and development as well as a valuable income stream for farmers.”

Newt Conservation Partnership CEO Dr Pascale Nicolet said: “Our monitoring work clearly shows that our clean water ponds are providing new havens for Great Crested Newt populations and other animals and plants. Together, we’re making an important and long-term contribution to both amphibian conservation and nature recovery. 

Crucially, we’re not just focusing on the quality of individual ponds but taking a landscape-scale approach to conservation, so habitats are in the right places to make a real difference. Bringing together the expertise of two environmental charities with decades of knowledge and experience in habitat creation and restoration means we can give Great Crested Newts what they need: clean, unpolluted water and high-quality terrestrial habitat located in the right place so they can naturally colonise.” 

The results presented are a testament to the tireless efforts and expertise of the habitat and species specialists within our partner organisations the Newt Conservation Partnership, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and Freshwater Habitats Trust. The results show that the private, public, NGO sector partnership is delivering for nature recovery while also speeding up development.

View the full report below.  

Male Great Crested Newt – Chris Dresh, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust

Male great crested newt found in one of our compensation ponds