Over the past 30 years, rewilding projects have gained significant momentum across the UK as the country accounts for some of the highest rates of biodiversity loss in the world. These initiatives aim to restore natural habitats by expanding vital ecosystems and creating greener spaces where wildlife can thrive independently.

With continued support from conservation organisations and local communities, wildflower and habitat restoration projects are on the rise, and with Kent’s rich landscape playing an important role in rewilding initiatives, restoration projects can help to bring these vital ecosystems back to life.

Across the county, rewilding projects continue to expand in scale and ambition. Many rewilding sites are open to the public, offering opportunities to experience the impact of these projects firsthand, while educational programmes help people to understand the important role they can play in supporting environmental recovery.

These three projects are just some of the rewilding initiatives happening across the county, and by spending a day out learning about these projects, you can understand how Kent is restoring its natural heritage for future generations and reinforcing its celebrated reputation as the Garden of England.

©Jenny-Louise Reed

The Importance of Rewilding

The county of Kent is fortunate enough to be one of the most biodiverse counties in the country. Across the diverse countryside, rewilding efforts continue to expand and help play a vital role in repairing fragile ecosystems that are still heavily under threat. These initiatives are essential for supporting the reestablishment of lost habitats, from ancient woodlands to open wild grassland. Without such efforts, Kent’s damaged ecosystems would have limited opportunities to recover, making it increasingly difficult to reverse the loss of biodiversity.

Rewilding can be seen as a long-term process of ecological restoration that aims to allow natural ecosystems to eventually take care of themselves, reducing the need for human intervention. There are a number of methods taking place to help support this recovery, including the reintroduction of large herbivores, which have been lost through centuries of hunting and loss of habitat.

Keystone species have a significant impact on Kent’s natural landscape by maintaining biodiversity and recovering habitats that have gradually disappeared. Their return can help restore native species to the county’s meadows, woodlands and coastal regions, allowing locals and tourists to discover how Kent is taking innovative steps to support its natural landscape.

Wilder Blean Rewilding Project

©Tim Horton

One of Kent’s flagship rewilding projects is the Wilder Blean Rewilding Project in West Blean and Thornden Woods, near Canterbury. The project is led by a partnership between the Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust to help generate innovative rewilding strategies to successfully restore keystone species and revive vital ecosystems across one of the largest areas of ancient woodland in the UK.

With accessible walking routes starting from nearby car parks to the woodland and cycling trails from Canterbury. When you visit the West Blean and Thornden Woods, a rare sight that you can discover is the UK’s first free-roaming herd of wild European bison. Although the bison are managed within a large fenced conservation area for safety reasons, there are designated viewing spots where you can see these majestic creatures roaming in their natural habitat. 

Alongside the bison, Exmoor ponies, English longhorn cattle and Iron Age pigs have also been introduced to West Blean and Thornden Woods to help with clearing woodland and assisting with the rewilding efforts. These herbivores are the missing key to successfully managing woodland and performing natural rewilding processes without human intervention. 

Through grazing and wallowing, these animals naturally create clearings within dense woodland, allowing more light to reach the forest floor. This helps to trigger natural plant regeneration and the development of microhabitats that support insects and birds. The reintroduction of European bison is helping to reshape the landscape by restoring natural ecological processes that the animals have performed for centuries, and by working together, keystone species and visitors’ interest in this project are driving a transformative restoration of Kent’s ancient woodland.

Woodsell Wilding and Regeneration Project

In the heart of the Kent Downs, you can discover Woodsell, a 180-acre wilding and regeneration project near Stalisfield and Faversham. First acquired in 2020, the site is managed under a 99-year lease by the John Foran Foundation, a charity which helps support the wildlife recovery in Woodsell and provides educational awareness and public access to the rewilding project.

The project is transforming the former farmland into a thriving nature reserve, with a focus on rewilding the natural landscape, an increase in biodiversity and regenerative agriculture initiatives. Woodsell is situated between two areas of Kent Wildlife Trust’s land, Spuckles Wood and Holbeam. The land serves as a vital hub for research, training and education, alongside nature-based therapy, which helps to not only restore Kent’s natural ecosystems but also restore our relationship to it. 

While visiting the project, you can embark on Woodsell’s nature trail, which explains more about the wilding and regeneration projects taking place. Along the route are six wildlife ponds and wildflower seed plots, comprising six two-acre fields of commercial wildflower seeds in partnership with Kent Seeds. These extensive plots are helping to improve the health and fertility of the soil by using regenerative farming methods, with a number of native wildflowers, including yellow rattle, a semi-parasitic annual, which works as a so-called ‘meadow maker’, as it syphons off water and nutrients to nearby grasses, clearing grassland as the foundation for boosting biodiversity and allowing wildflower meadows to thrive.

While on the trail, you can also discover the seasonal Orchid Bank, which flourishes in late May and June. During this time, the bank is awash with a wide variety of native wildflowers, including ox-eye daisies and a large number of pyramidal orchids, known for their vibrant pink-purple flowers and signature pyramidal shape. The immersive trail offers a unique opportunity to witness the positive impact of landscape-scale restoration projects across the Kent Downs.

Chalk to Coast Nature Recovery

©Sarah Medway

When exploring Kent’s northern coastline, you can discover a visionary landscape-scale nature recovery project taking shape. The ambitious 450 square mile Chalk to Coast Nature Recovery project aims to reconnect the fragmented habitats from the Kent Downs National Landscape to the North Kent marshes and further along the coastline.

The project is helping to connect a cluster of farmers and landowners to form a continuous network of wildlife corridors across the county. By linking habitats, from chalk grassland and ancient woodlands to chalk streams and heathland, the initiative hopes to successfully reverse biodiversity loss and strengthen the resilience of Kent’s landscape.

This initiative is partnered with a number of supporting conservation groups, including Kent Wildlife Trust, RSPB and Natural England, and is supported by the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme. Together, these groups are working to connect landscapes from coast to countryside, bringing together a network of farmers, conservationists and community groups who are eager to help restore and protect the county’s natural habitats. 

With a number of accessible coastal walks across Kent’s northern coastline, you can visit the landscape firsthand, as the recovery area stretches from Faversham, where native European otters can occasionally be spotted in the local marshes, to the Isle of Grain on the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula, where black-tailed godwits and a number of wading birds forage on the shoreline. These nature corridors are designed to link these diverse habitats together, where wildlife and humans have the ability to travel between them, creating a communal environment for both wildlife and humans to thrive independently.