Pondwatch JE 2025 Training event

Get involved, help gather sightings of Jersey’s pond life and become a trained Wild Volunteer to help us assess and conserve their habitat.

What is Pondwatch JE?

Pondwatch JE is a project that aims to gather sightings of Jersey’s pond life to help assess their conservation status, distribution and habitat requirements.

How can you help?

There are opportunities for everyone to get involved. Depending on your interest, available time and experience you can currently get involved in two ways.

• Level 1 – spend 30 minutes looking for wildlife in ponds and send us your results. No experience or training is required.

• Level 2 – carry out 5 surveys, each taking 30‒60 minutes. You will search for amphibians and other pond life at a pond using three methods; visual searches, netting and night time torch surveys. You do not need experience but you will need to attend a training event.

Schedule of the day:​

0945 Arrival/coffee

1000 Welcome and introduction to Pondwatch (Tim Wright)

1015 A brief review of what we have learnt from the last six years of Pondwatch (Tim Wright)

1030 Pondlife identification – amphibians, reptiles and fish (John Wilkinson)

1100 Pondlife identification – dragonflies and other invertebrates (John Wilkinson)

1120 Short break

1130 Carrying out Pondwatch Level 1 (pond survey methods and data recording (Emily Wagdin)

1155 Carrying out Pondwatch Level 2 (pond survey methods including habitat assessment, safety and biosecurity) (John Wilkinson)

1230 Data entry for Pondwatch Level 2 (Emily Wagdin)

1240 Practical field session – demonstration, practical session and Q&A

1330 Lunch and opportunity to sign up as a volunteer

During the lunch break there will be an opportunity sign up, discuss pond sites, and allocate ponds if needed. Once signed up you can take equipment and sign the relevant forms.

The sessions are free and open to anyone, but please sign up for a ticket, to help us plan numbers. Light refreshments will be available, but please note we may not be able to cater for all allergies and dietary requirements.

Pondwatch is the successor to both the National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme (NARRS) which ran in Jersey from 2007 to 2018 and Toadwatch which ran from 2005 to 2018. During this time volunteers provided a great deal of information which has been used to inform the design of Pondwatch as well as influence efforts to protect the species.

Host or Publisher Natural Environment