Queen’s Park pond has been once again been covered with a blanket of green duckweed and algae, and volunteers are needed to help clear some of it.
The Friends of Queen’s Park is calling on people to come and make new pond cages for water plants – and clear some of the weed at the same time.
Committee member Chris Lowe said the pond was particularly green this year because of a lack of frost in the winter and fewer volunteers than usual clearing it in the spring.
And people feeding the ducks and seagulls makes the problem worse, as the leftover bread feeds the algae and duckweed, and the seagull guano fertilises them.
But he stressed both were completely natural and safe.
He said: “It’s a natural cycle. In wildlife terms, there’s nothing negative at all – underneath the water is crystal clear and teeming with invertebrates, and the duckweed is eaten by the ducks.”
He added that the Friends are looking into the cost of having the weed and algae removed mechanically and the pond treated to halt its return, but this would probably cost many thousands of pounds.
To join in with the help the pond day on Sunday, 17 August, call park ranger Lindsay Cattanach on 07818 092719 or Chris Lowe on 07761 674827.
