Dreaming of a Greener Blean
£2.3 million cash injection for ancient woodland
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded Kent Wildlife Trust a grant for the first phase of a £2.3m habitat restoration project for the Trust's nature reserves in the Blean woodland complex around Canterbury.
The Blean represents one of the largest tracts of continuous ancient semi-natural woodland left in England. It is of international importance and recoginised as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and, in 2000, was declared a National Nature Reserve (NNR).
Kent Wildlife Trust is now the largest landowner, managing some 2,600 acres (1,061 hectares). Of this woodland, however, much of it is not "wildlife friendly" in that about 40% of the holding is made up of non-native conifer plantation and a further 40% is dominated by non-native sweet chestnut coppice. The remaining 20% is a more desirable mixture of native deciduous and mixed coppice with acid bogs and grassland.
The next major step is for the Trust to restore habitat favourable to the native plants and animals associated with the Blean and to safeguard the historically important archaeological features including the Iron Age Hill Fort at Bigbury Wood - the site, historians believe, of Caesar's first battle on British soil. The Trust also aims to improve access for visitors and provide them with a greater understanding of the area's significance through information boards and literature - along with a programme of community and education events.
Mike Enfield has been appointed as the Trust's Blean Conservation Complex Project Officer. Mike has an intimate knowledge of the Blean and brings a wealth of conservation and project management experience.
He will be fine-tuning the plans for the Blean reserves and preparing a costed programme of work for the 4-year implementation stage of the project.
Mike says:
Completing the first phase of the project; will require the weaving together of the ecological, archaeological and community strands to produce a tapestry of considerable heritage value for the present and future generations to enjoy...the Blean is one of the richest wildlife areas in Kent with enormous potential. I want to play a key role in the Trust's efforts to enhance this special environment by repairing any neglect and protecting its rare species and fragile habitats.
Born and brought up in Ashford, Mike became interested in butterflies and moths at school, first as a collector, but then changing to recording and photography.
He began volunteering for the Nature Conservancy at Wye in 1971, and for the then Kent Trust for Nature Conservation in 1980 - mainly because of concerns at the changes to so many of the good butterfly sites he knew as a child.
He previously worked for Kent Wildlife Trust in East Kent from 1984 to 1989 and more recently as Swale Area Warden.
