For a guaranteed wildlife magnet, have water in some form in your garden. Everything needs water to survive, and the more you can supply, the greater the variety of wildlife that will pile in to your plot.

While even a bird bath will ensure a stream of feathered visitors, creating a pond is by far the best thing you can do, particularly as most of our natural wetlands have disappeared. And, from a selfish point of view, pretty much all the pond’s inhabitants and visitors, from frogs and toads to bats and dragonflies, have a wonderful appetite for garden pests.

A pond can be designed to fit any space in your garden. A miniature pond can be made from a wooden half barrel or an old sink.

But bigger is better: a good-sized pond with a range of habitats will obviously support the most wildlife. An optimum size to go for is around a metre wide by two metres long.

For more information on making a wildlife pond visit the Devon Wildlife Trust website

Freshwater plant and animal species are often at risk because we simply know to too little about them. PondNet is a volunteer monitoring project to survey both uncommon and common wetland species in ponds across England and Wales.  The project has been has been developed with support from many partners including Natural England, British Dragonfly Society, Botanical Society of the British Isles,  Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

PondNet is the first habitat-based volunteer survey network of its kind. It aims to provide much-needed information about the condition of ponds and the species they support.

The results will be used by Freshwater Habitats Trust and other environmental organisations to influence government freshwater policy; and to help us direct conservation work where it is most needed, to achieve the greatest gains for freshwater wildlife.

For more information visit the Freshwater Habitats Trust website.