Restored watering holes bring life to National Park

A wealth of biodiversity has been discovered during ecological surveys of old livestock watering holes, known as dew ponds, restored by the South Downs National Park.

The scarce blue-tailed damselfly – once thought to have been extinct – was recently spotted in one of the newly restored ponds.

The national park has been working to bring 10 of the ponds back to life; providing homes and drinking water for insects, birds amphibians and mammals.

"The plants are growing in it; the insects are coming back. Just to see it alive, it's exciting when you come up here, you're never quite sure what you're going to see," Sylvia King, who carries out a survey on one the ponds, said.