Small water bodies with crucial benefits for biodiversity have been overlooked due to their size, a German research centre has said.

While Europe has been preoccupied with the levels of rivers and lakes, smaller areas of inland water like ponds in the region have recorded “historic lows”, according to the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB).

“Small water bodies receive relatively little attention in water policy and water management, partly due to their low legal status,” IGB said in a report.

“Their ecological status is poorly recorded and there is little political ambition to improve the situation.”

Small standing water bodies account for more than 30% of the world’s freshwater surface area, the report said.

Local authorities are “often unaware” of the importance of small water bodies for biodiversity due to a lack of information and funding, the authors said, adding that the protection of such water bodies could help towards the headline goal in the final agreement of COP15 of protecting 30% of land and water.

The release follows academics outlining principles for area-based biodiversity conservation including protecting as much habitat as possible, including smaller areas.

Small standing water bodies have “particularly high potential” to be nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation due to their contribution to biodiversity, according to the researchers.

“Although ponds can be considered as individual units, it is increasingly recognised that they have their greatest potential for biodiversity conservation as a network, with the density of the network being important in determining the extent to which the pondscape can support rare and specialist species,” the paper said.

The conservation of freshwater ecosystems is a “matter of survival” for humans and animals, it said.

Key options for action to conserve small water bodies, according to the researchers, include:

• Defining who is legally responsible for small water bodies, transferring oversight to civil society actors if necessary
• Ensuring minimum ecological flow between small water bodies by developing pondscapes as nature-based solutions
• Developing management guidelines for small water bodies
• Making information on ponds publicly available

Small standing waters can serve various other purposes alongside boosting biodiversity such as watering livestock, irrigation, firefighting, and recreational purposes, IGB said.

By Thomas Cox – t.cox@carbon-pulse.com

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