AI for Biodiversity - Part 2

Practical, high-impact, interventions for Foret Caperdu to Achieve

1. Pond network (small, fish-free, diverse depths): supports amphibians, damselflies, aquatic plants like Aldrovanda if water chemistry is right.

2. Retain/plant native hedgerows and shrub edge: supports bats (foraging corridors), birds, dormice/higher invertebrate diversity.

3. Deadwood retention & standing dead timber: key for beetles, fungi, some bats, amphibianå shelter.

4. Flower-rich, rotational meadow strips: benefits pollinators and hoverflies.

5. No chemical inputs and keep buffer strips to water: improves water quality for aquatic species.

6. Install species-appropriate boxes (bat boxes, bird nest boxes, piling brush for hedgehogs).

7. Avoid fencing: Enables hedgehog highways and wildlife-permeable boundaries.

8. Targeted microhabitat creation: log piles, rock piles, shallow scrapes and wet scrapes, permanent shallow margins in ponds.

Critical Success Factors

• At least one permanent or semi-permanent water body. If not, pond-dependent species (Aldrovanda, marbled newt, damselfly) are not feasible.

• Need to accept a mosaic (pools + woodland + meadow + scrub) rather than a single closed canopy. That mosaic is necessary for most shortlisted species.

• How to avoid agricultural runoff & manage nutrient inputs? Without this, oligotrophic pond specialists are unlikely to persist.

Top 3 “Quick wins” 

1. Make 2–4 fish-free shallow ponds with vegetated margins (different depths) — highest leverage for amphibians, damselflies, and aquatic plants.

2. Leave/stack deadwood and trees; protect old trees — immediate benefits to invertebrates and bats.

3. Create/maintain hedgerows and long-flower strips — rapid increase in pollinators and small mammals; cheap and effective.