Chris Packham Kickstarts Fleet Pond Clearwater Campaign For 2010

A local conservation group has received valuable support for its latest campaign from television personality and naturalist Chris Packham.

The Fleet Pond Society launched its Clearwater campaign at the beginning of 2010, with the goal of restoring Fleet Pond and improving the quality of its water and its capacity as a habitat for wildlife.

 “The council don’t have the resources to do anything about deteriorating nature," explained Colin Gray, chairman of the Fleet Pond Society.

“Through the Clearwater campaign we’re looking to raise between two and three million pounds over the coming years,”

As the patron of the society, Hampshire-born Chris Packham recently assisted their fundraising effort by joining members at the pond and filming a special campaign video. The society hopes that Mr Packham’s advocacy will bolster support and help them to secure the funding they need.

While Fleet Pond still enjoys many visitors and is widely regarded as an important natural environment, the site’s appeal for a diverse range of wildlife has steadily diminished in recent years.

“The pond itself is totally devoid of weed- in the last 30 years it’s lost all of its aquatic flora,” Colin continued. “This has a knock on effect, dramatically reducing the population of swans and ducks.

“If we can improve the quality of water, we can create areas where the pond can regenerate.”

As previously reported on Fleet-People, the Fleet Pond Society celebrated International Biodiversity Day last Saturday (May 22nd) with a range of educational activities for local families and nature enthusiasts. According to Colin the day was well attended, and the group was very happy with the level of interest from the public.

“It was a very good day,” he stated. “We had well over 100 people come down, and we recruited several new members for the society and answered a lot of questions. The pond dipping and displays on offer were very popular, especially with the children.”

In aid of the Clearwater campaign, the Fleet Pond Society’s treasurer Nick Keeley will be cycling from Fleet to Liverpool and back again this summer. To sponsor him, go to his Charity Giving page here.

The Fleet Pond Society is currently accepting cheques on behalf of their campaign, made payable to Nick Keeley. For more information, visit the group’s website here.