Farmers stumble upon solution to restore 'zombie' ponds on their land: 'You get a lot of ... bang for your buck'

Restoring old, forgotten ponds is bringing wildlife back to the British countryside, The Guardian reported.

When Joe Gray coppiced a patch of woodland on his Essex farm, he noticed that an abandoned pond sprang back into life since it was exposed to sunlight. "It was a hole in the woods with some leaves in it — we didn't think of it as a pond," he said.

Now, he and his wife Emma have brought 11 "zombie" ponds back to life on their 450-hectare regenerative farm. They've inspired neighboring farmers to restore 80 more ponds within a three-mile radius near Braintree.

These restored water sources now overflow with rare aquatic plants, dragonflies, and great-crested newts, providing food and water for birds and bats.

"You get a lot of biodiversity bang for your buck in a marginal area for farming — you're not taking productive land out, but quickly you build up a network for species to hop across a landscape," Emma Gray said. "It's a no-brainer."

The Essex lost ponds project, run by Essex Wildlife Trust and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, is leading this revival. They've found 17,200 ponds across the county, 10,400 of which disappeared when farming became more mechanized in the 1900s. The project offers farmers free surveys to find old ponds and helps them access funding to restore them.

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Some landowners are so excited they're not waiting for funding. One Essex estate has already brought six of its 49 identified ponds back to life.

The restoration process is messy at first. When Joe Gray cuts down trees and uses a digger to restore the pond's profile, "it looks like a building site," he said. But within months, these spots transform into thriving wildlife hubs.

The Grays prove farming and nature can work together. They use 40% of their land for wildlife programs but grow as much food as before. Their approach attracts winter flocks of 1,000 linnets, making their farm unlike any other place in Essex.

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"We're not the sort of farmers who want to see everything rewilded," Emma Gray said. "We are passionate about growing food, but it can be done in balance with nature."