Scarce blue-tailed damselfly found on River Ash — SkimNews
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- Scarce blue-tailed damselfly was recorded at two monitoring sites located close together in late summer along the River Ash near Hertford, in wetlands created by the restoration project; it is one of the world's earliest flying insect species.
- Easneye Estate restoration put a 4.3-mile (7km) stretch of the River Ash — one of about 260 chalk rivers in the world — back in its original course last year, and included creating new gravel beds.
- British Dragonfly Society's Red List reclassified the scarce blue-tailed damselfly from Near Threatened to Endangered, with eight species now classed as endangered — twice the number identified in the previous 2008 assessment.
- Brown trout were already spawning on the new gravel beds, the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust said.
- Invertebrate monitoring carried out before and after the restoration found an increase in river invertebrates, including mayflies and stoneflies.
- Sarah Perry, rivers recovery manager at the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, said the damselfly sightings on the River Ash offer "a hopeful example" of what restoration efforts can achieve, adding that natural rivers, connected floodplains and healthy wetlands give wildlife places to feed and breed and can contribute to resilience against flooding and drought.
Why it matters: The Red List reclassification from Near Threatened to Endangered gives the River Ash sightings real weight: the scarce blue-tailed damselfly is one of eight endangered species, double the 2008 count. For the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, brown trout spawning on the new gravel beds and increased invertebrate numbers give its 4.3-mile scheme concrete outcomes.
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