LANDOWNERS and farmers in Lancashire are being rewarded for building ponds for great crested newts.

A scheme launched this week by Natural England will see projects in the county paid for helping to improve populations of great crested newts.

The public body has partnered with EnTrade as part of its district level licensing scheme to create a sealed-bid auction where local landowners can set prices for creating the ponds and create new habitats for the newts away from land outlined for development.

Great crested newt populations in the UK have declined rapidly over the last century, despite being protected under UK and EU law, largely due to loss of habitat caused by building development and pond neglect.

Under the new scheme – which has already secured more than 200 new ponds since March 2020 in Cheshire, Leicestershire, Essex and Cambridgeshire – declines in great crested newts are set to reverse, developers can complete their projects quicker and more cost-effectively and farmers and landowners can create sustainable new revenue streams.

“The District Level Licensing Scheme provides win-win solutions for all who are involved,” said James Peacock, product manager at EnTrade.

“Using the EnTrade platform, landowners can easily learn about the requirements needed to create suitable ponds, enter a price for which they can provide them, then apply for two to six ponds for their land."

He added: “Creating clusters of ponds in this way has been shown to maximise the chance of colonisation by great crested newts and improve population resilience.”

Craig Thomas, habitat delivery strategist at Natural England said Lancashire had been identified as a key area for the animals.

“We market the auctions to landowners in areas of the country that are particularly important for great crested newts. Habitat is targeted within strategic opportunity areas – where evidence tells us that there is a good likelihood of the ponds being colonised by newts.

“We use the EnTrade platform as an engagement tool, allowing us and our local habitat delivery bodies to build long-term relationships with landowners to positively manage and monitor the new ponds over the next 25 years to maintain healthy newt populations.”

Landowners can register at entrade.co.uk until Friday December 11 for more information and to take part in the scheme.