An ambitious project has been launched to restore Ilkley Tarn and transform it into a thriving habitat for wildlife.
Friends of Ilkley Moor (FoIM) has commissioned a detailed scientific evaluation of the tarn as the first stage of a wider programme to improve its biodiversity. The group says Ilkley Tarn was once an important breeding site for amphibians, while sticklebacks and a variety of invertebrate life are also believed to have flourished around 50 years ago. However, FoIM says large numbers of ducks have contributed to pollution in the water and left the tarn largely devoid of other life. The new study is being carried out under the supervision of Professor Rick Battarbee FRS, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Change at University College London. Working alongside Dr John Boyle of the University of Liverpool and consultants Goldsmith Ecology, researchers have carried out a bathymetric survey to map the depth of the water and sediment. A monitoring programme has also been established to track water flowing into and out of the tarn. Water samples have been collected for chemical and microbiological analysis, while researchers are investigating whether any submerged vegetation has survived. Surface sediment is also being studied for evidence of invertebrate life. Researchers have gone further back into the tarn's history by taking sediment cores from areas where mud has accumulated over approximately 150 years. FoIM hopes fossil evidence within the sediment could reveal which plants and animals lived in the tarn before the current period of pollution. A smaller scientific survey has also been carried out at the Upper Tarn. Its higher elevation and lack of significant duck numbers mean it could provide researchers with a useful comparison site. Once the results have been analysed, Friends of Ilkley Moor hopes to use the findings to develop a detailed plan to restore Ilkley Tarn as a wildlife-rich pond. Owen Wells, Chair of Friends of Ilkley Moor, said: “Ilkley Moor is now the largest part of the new Pennine Gateway National Nature Reserve and it is only right that Ilkley Tarn should be an example of how nature can be restored and take pride of place in the new Nature Reserve.”
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