Project to save wildlife in Falkirk’s Helix Park

The Come Forth for Wildlife Project is seeking permission to create three new ponds in Helix park, which they hope will create a safe breeding habitat for amphibians and reptiles.

The new ponds will be well covered by vegetation to give the creatures protection from predators – and they are near enough to the park’s bigger wetland to allow them to move on once they have successfully bred.

The ponds will be fairly small – the largest will be nine metres by six metres with a maximum depth of one 
metre – and they will be set back from the paths and walkways through the Helix.

The project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Scottish Natural Heritage Biodiversity Challenge Fund, aims to create 24 new ponds, while 13 will be restored and a further 30 habitats will be improved for reptiles and amphibians.

The charity Froglife believes the work is urgently needed as studies are showing a major decline in the 
population of amphibians and reptiles – with the number of toads declining by nearly 
70 per cent in the last 30 
years.