Rearing the snails – as well as other critically endangered invertebrates such as scarlet malachite beetles, ladybird spiders and tadpole shrimp – has become a family affair.
Ian’s wife Kerry and their sons Jake, George and Ben, are also fully invested.
“You’ve got to have a certain mindset to walk out into a freezing cold lake in the middle of January,” Ben, 27, explained.
“But knowing that you’re helping is more than enough to make it all worth it.
“Every little thing has its place in the ecosystem and if you take a tiny little cog out of any machine it’s going to stop working”.