Wetlands are a vital part of the natural world. There are many habitats support vibrant ecosystems among the most diverse on the planet. This video will help you learn about the importance of pond habitats, the threats to their existence and what you can do to save them. Ponds are freshwater pools, no bigger than a football pitch in area and only 8 meters deep, allowing plants to grow over most of the surface. Globally, small water bodies like this actually make up the majority of freshwater stored on land and until recently their extent was grossly underestimated. These systems provide us with flood control, help us manage pollution and reduce greenhouse gases all while bringing us closer to nature through their rich assortment of species and their natural beauty. Out of all the freshwater bodies, pond contribute most to biodiversity, which means that they are home to a great many different species with many interesting survival strategies. They're able to host so many species because they are created easily under a range of conditions, making them very diverse themselves. Unlike lakes and rivers, they have small catchment areas, allowing dense pond networks to provide many different aquatic habitats. With such an array of environments, ponds also host many rare species that rely on specific conditions such as those provided by the temporary ponds in which large freshwater brachial pods are found. Ponds support such complex food webs below the surface that they provide local terrestrial wildlife like dragonflies, frogs, nutes, reptiles and even bats and birds with a source of food. Some bats are in fact so reliant on pond life that they are a good indicator that you'll pond are supporting a healthy ecosystem. Global warming is pushing these communities of organisms northwards to cooler climate and ponds are vital stepping stones in this migration. We need an international network of ponds that allows ponds and wildlife to adjust to climate change, but international efforts are falling short. We've lost 64% of the ponds in the world since the turn of the 20th century. Most European states lost more than half of their wetlands in this time, whilst Wirtzland has lost a staggering 90% since the 1800s. In North America, freshwater extinction rates rival those seen in tropical forests and Europe has seen a population decline of 76% in freshwater species between 1970 and 2010. The two biggest threats to ponds are the intensification of agriculture and urbanization. Increasingly intense farming practices are reducing pond habitats through pollution, drainage, damning and water diversion. While urbanization normally means ponds are filled in and built over. Urbanization also creates a relatively uniform environment that favors generalist species like rats and pigeons and has poor biodiversity. So how do we reduce the threat to ponds? Fundamentally ponds are threatened by our actions, meaning that all they require is protection. This sounds simple enough, but they have largely been avoided in politics. The European Union's Water Framework Directive, which aimed to restore the quality of all water bodies by 2015, did not mention ponds once. Spain implemented the directive and was able to include small ponds in arrogant and Catalonia, so why aren't they part of EU policy? Well, in Switzerland's case, including small water bodies would mean restoring more than half of the ponds in the country, which is too much to be expected of any environment agencies funding. Luckily, you can help, because digging a pond is fairly easy. Its cheap and man-made ponds are not ecologically different from natural ones. Suburbs actually have a higher potential for biodiversity than many rural areas, as they created dense mosaic of different habitats. Because they attract so much life, ponds are a fantastic educational resource to teach people about the environment and to get kids interested in the natural world. Digging a pond is something that anyone with a garden can do, and when frogs and dragonflies arrive, they even provide natural pest control for gardeners. So if you have an interest in preserving the natural world, reducing the impact of climate change and improving your daily life in the face of political indifference, please dig a pond.