Creating a wildlife pond

Last week I went on a course run by habitataid on how to create a wildlife pond. This was a revelation to me. Apart from the diverse and fascinating people that I met, the technique for creating a pond has changed radically. The old days of the expensive and temperamental butyl liners have gone. I remember years ago a similar course where once the area had been dug out we all spent ages flattening the inside of the pond to eradicate sharp stones then a layer of sand was spread and then the dreaded liner was dragged into place. At this stage everyone had to take their boots off to walk over the liner smoothing out wrinkles. The whole thing was a nightmare followed a few weeks later by a leak caused by an over exuberant heron puncturing it, which meant the whole thing had to be started again with a new liner which was expensive and soul destroying. No wonder people with experience of this discouraged anyone from creating a wildlife pond that had to use one of these liners.
A new product developed to create an economical barrier to protect against seepage in landfill sites is now being used.Called Bentomat it is a fabric with a dry clay filling which forms the barrier. It looks like a carpet or a floppy type of plasterboard and is rolled into place over a dug pond and then filled over with a 300mm layer of soil - and that's it. Water acts with the clay filling and seals the pond similar to lining it with clay.The lining will self seal after small punctures or in serious cases can be repaired by putting another piece of bentonite over the hole like a patch. The liner is much cheaper than butyl does not need all the preparation and looks more natural insitu as it is all covered over.
This opens up so many possibilities that I am only just beginning to get my head round them.Small ponds in gardens linked with wildlife areas are now a distinct and exciting prospect.The hardest part was dragging it into place but that was because we were making quite a large pond.The fact we had a mechanical digger for the hole meant you also had the horsepower to move the bentonite roll .In smaller ponds perhaps hand dug the handling wold be much easier.
I was surprised by just how many people are now involved in environmental and green projects.People creating micro hydro power which I must try and find out more about.A company using willow for river bank erosion and filtration.The government needs to take these more seriously and help them to develop.
I came away from the course excited about new techniques in pond building but also motivated by the people I met.