Amanda Sosnowski, University of the West of England 

In the farmland of England, a search and rescue mission is underway. A team is working to excavate land haunted by ghosts… but these are not ordinary ghosts… they are ghost ponds. While Norfolk used to have more ponds than any other English county, over the years pressures of modern-day farming have forced farmers to fill-in ponds, making room for new crops, while burying England’s wetlands at an exponential rate.

‘Ghost Ponds’ journeys to an ongoing pond revival to meet the groundswell movement’s most passionate conservationists who are working to restore landscapes and species in an ecosystem damaged by climate change. Born and raised around the ponds of Norfolk, Professor Carl is beholden to restore his nostalgic vision of once-thriving wetlands. PhD student, Jack, having never cared much for ponds before, is driven not to dwell on the past, but rather, reimagine ponds as biodiverse hotspots for the future. Among the backdrop of grand pastoral views these small waterbodies are unearthed, one by one reversing the devastating statistic of England’s 90% wetland disappearance, and with that we uncover why farmland ponds are the conservation underdog of the century.

But the battle for wetlands is a struggle… this restoration work is up against overwhelming odds. As wetlands continue to be filled-in, rare and declining wildlife species cannot afford to wait for large-scale ecosystem restoration and conservation projects to be initiated. Carl and Jack must convince farmers on the importance of ponds, before human-induced degradation is too severe. Despite the odds, the result from bringing England’s farmland ponds back from the dead holds much promise… even leading to staggering finds. Sometimes it's the smallest changes that can make the biggest difference.