Learn more about the wildlife and wild places in Kent and beyond.
One of the many benefits of using grazing livestock in conservation management is that they produce dung. Their dung acts in various ways to enhance the landscape and provides benefits for a range of organisms that would otherwise be excluded in a machinery-based site management scheme.
Kent Wildlife Trust's education team were delighted to be invited to be a part of Tonbridge Grammar School’s Year 8 Interdisciplinary Week: an exciting, off-timetable programme designed to connect students with real-world challenges through creativity, teamwork, and critical thinking.
This week, pupils at Herne Junior and Herne Infants were treated to a very special experience as part of their journey to connect with local wildlife and the natural world. Kent Wildlife Trust’s education team joined forces with New York Times bestselling children’s author Alice Hemming, who visited the schools to lead creative storytelling workshops based on her book The Bison and the Butterfly.
At Kent Wildlife Trust, we are working hard to create a Wilder Kent, but this isn’t something we can do alone. That’s why Goal 2 of our Wilder Kent 2030 strategy is to Inspire and Collaborate: working with people and communities across Kent to take meaningful action for nature, now and in the future. Our education work lies at the very heart of this goal.
Hothfield Heathland's bogs are one of only a handful of wet heaths in the Southeast, supporting a variety of dragonflies...
The mysterious nightjar has fascinated humans for generations and their presence can be an indicator of healthy heathland ecosystems. Learn all about them here.
Bob is the most striking and charismatic of our longhorns; he is well loved by our staff and volunteers. He is good natured and respects the 10-metre distance that should be kept between people and livestock. Bob can sometimes be quite stubborn; if he is feeling particularly restful he will refuse to move for anything.
We have had the driest spring since 1956, with river and stream flow already well below average for the time of year, a worry for everyone. Area Manager Ian Rickards reports that “this crazy weather has been beneficial for some insects, but the vegetation is already struggling, which will have a knock-on effect other insects later in the year. Water levels are dropping dramatically, with ponds and water bodies drying out very quickly.” The livestock have water troughs but the thin layer of peat in the bogs can dry out easily and be eroded by wind when exposed as plants adapted to damp conditions wither. The successive broods of nestling birds mostly eat insects and larvae, which provide moisture as well as protein, so they are also at risk.
