Dr Genoveva Esteban and colleagues from the SBCS and the Dorset Wildlife Trust, working at The River Laboratory in Dorset, have discovered an astonishing new variety of species in a project to save one of the UK’s top sites for pondlife. The tiny aquatic organisms, which are invisible to the naked eye, have been found at East Stoke Fen nature reserve in Dorset. The scientists are investigating the 'cryptic biodiversity' and hope this project will help to raise awareness to protect pondlife. Genoveva said: “Local biodiversity conservation will become all-embracing by covering the full range of aquatic organisms that contribute to the proper functioning of an ecosystem - not just those judged as 'charismatic'.” The story is reported in the Environment Times and Metro.