Pupils win funding to rescue wildlife pond

A school has been awarded funding to rebuild its broken wildlife pond, after pupils spent more than a year trying to save it themselves.

St Martin's Primary School in Guernsey is one of 11 island projects sharing £31,000 from Nature Commission Guernsey's Strategy for Nature Fund, which supports local conservation work.

Staff and pupils had spent months clearing invasive plants, opening up more natural light and repairing fencing around the pond, but the water kept draining away.

Head teacher Claire Gilles said the new funding would pay for a complete relining and leveling, plus native plants to replace invasive species.

She said: "We were thoroughly delighted to receive the money and the children can't wait to get in there, it's something they feel really passionate about."

The school has also received money for its St Martin's meadow project to increase the number of bees and other pollinators.

The grants support a range of initiatives, from beach clean-ups and the regeneration of Fort Field along Fort Road, to monitoring marine mammals in the bailiwick's waters.

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