Wilder Kent Blog

Butterfly expert Alan Sumnall offers a thorough guide to one of our most enchanting groups of butterflies – the blues.

Indicator species can provide valuable insights into the environmental conditions of a particular area. Learn more about them and what they mean...

Lady orchids blooming in well-managed coppice woodland. Tucked-away chalk grasslands where rare monkey orchids thrive. The fantastic mimicry of bee orchids next to cowslips and marjoram. This is Kent at its best!

In this blog, hear from Monitoring & Evidence Research Intern, Ollie, about his work tracking beavers in Kent. Believe it or not, these elusive creatures have made it to Ashford!

Have you heard an extra harmony in the dawn chorus recently? You might be hearing the passerines (songbirds) that have been migrating north to breed after spending the winter feeding in warmer climates.

I have been a BeeWalk volunteer with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT) since 2024. I have also been a Kent Wildlife Trust volunteer joining the Pine Marten project at Bedgebury in 2025. I live near Queendown Warren and the South East Area Manager (BBCT) was interested in how a chalk cliff area traditionally managed for butterflies supported bumblebees in this rare habitat.

Koniks (sometimes referred to as Konik Polski) are a non-native primitive breed that originate from Poland. They are a descendant of the tarpan, a type of European wild horse that went extinct in the 19th century. They have been bred for almost 80 years to be the ideal breed for use in conservation grazing, specifically for traits of hardiness, longevity and ease of handling, and are used successfully across Europe in conservation grazing schemes.

One of the main methods that seeds use to disperse themselves is through animals. Read more about the importance of this & how it happens.