How the ‘Picasso of ponds’ went from shaping golf courses to making freshwater homes for wildlife

Shaun Hancox, known as the 'Picasso of ponds', has created numerous ponds for rewilding projects across Britain. These artificial ponds rapidly become thriving habitats for plants, invertebrates, and amphibians.

Offers an effective, low-cost nature conservation method against habitat loss and biodiversity decline. Freshwater ecosystem restoration is important for climate adaptation and water management.

Shaun Hancox has created scores of ponds for rewilding projects across Britain – and he says there’s a lot more to it than digging a hole He is known as “the Picasso of ponds” but the tableaux being created by Shaun Hancox in a boggy field in Somerset currently looks more like a building site. An orange and black excavator is rhythmically removing lumpy clay soil and sculpting it into brown banks. The result looks like a scar of bare earth on what was once green pasture – but the magic happens as soon as rain fills the newly created depressions. Plants seed swiftly, invertebrates and amphibians rapidly find the water, and life explodes. Continue reading...