This ancient wood is dominated by mature beech and oak trees. A former pine plantation in the north of the site is now being restored to heathland.[14]
This nature reserve has views over the Stour Valley. Three species of bat hibernate on the site, which has chalk grassland, woodland and scrub. Flowering plants include fragrant and common spottedorchids.[15]
This site has woodland, chalk grassland, and two chalk pits which provide shelter for birds in the winter and breeding sites in the summer. Woodland flora include orchids.[16]
There are three lakes in these former gravel pits, and other habitats are ponds, a river, grassland and wet woodland. In the winter there are migratory wildfowl and wetland birds such as wigeon, tufted duck and gadwall.[24]
This small valley has neutral grassland, ancient woodland and marshes. The middle field has one of the largest populations of devil's bit scabious in Kent.[27]
Charles Darwin, who lived locally, carried out scientific research on the chalk grassland site, and it was the first to be purchased by the KWT in 1962.[31]
This site has mixed coppice with some mature oaks. Insects include the rare and protected heath fritillary butterfly, and there is a wide variety of woodland birds.[38]
This former refuse tip has a large mound which is the soil from the excavation of a railway tunnel. Habitats are grassland and scrub, and unusual flora include grass vetchling and dark mullein.[42]
The marshes have a variety of wetland habitats; freshwater marshes, woodland, brackish and tidal reedbeds, wet grassland, scrub, and freshwater and saline dykes. Flowers include the grey mouse-ear.[43]
This site has areas of heath and the best valley bog in the county, both habitats which are uncommon in Kent. Over a thousand insect species have been recorded, several of which are nationally rare, such as the bee Lasioglossum semilucens and the cranefly Tipula holoptera.[48]
These unimproved neutral meadows are cut for hay each year and then grazed. There are also ponds and hedgerows which are probably of ancient origin, and trees include midland hawthorns and wild service-trees.[65]
This nature reserve was created from a large arable field in 2009, and it is being regenerated with chalk grassland species, partly by colonisation from a steep bank which escaped ploughing and partly by seed spreading. An area of scrub provides a habitat for birds.[66]
This site has salt marshes, fresh water dykes and reed beds. It is of international importance for migratory, overwintering and breeding wetland birds.[67]
This steeply sloping hill has woodland, scrub and grassland. Scrub encroached on the other areas when the site was neglected, and KWT is removing it to restore its mainly grassland habitat, providing an increased area suitable for meadow butterflies, reptiles and orchids.[74]
This chalk grassland site is on a south-east facing slope. There is also an area of scrub, which provides a habitat for birds such as blackcap and willow warbler. Flora include rock-rose.[82]
The wood is mainly sweet chestnut coppice, but at the northern end there are mature oak and beech trees. A small stream runs along the bottom of the valley.[83]
This site has dry grassland and woodland on a south facing slope. It has two rare plants, early spider orchid and meadow clary, and a rich variety of insects.[90]
This site is formed from ancient sand dunes which have been left behind as the sea has retreated over the last two thousand years, and it has plants such as sea spurrey. There are also ponds left by gravel extraction, some permanent and others which dry out in the summer.[95]
There are four water filled pits with areas of fen. Over 500 plants species have been recorded and 169 birds, out of which 53 breed on the site. There are also 23 butterfly species, 23 dragonfly and over 500 beetles. Water quality is high.[97]
This site has the only ancient dune pasture in the county, and other habitats include saltmarshes, shingle beaches and sand dunes. It is internationally important for its birds, including black-tailed godwit, oystercatchers and sandwich terns.[98]
This site has flooded gravel pits which have over two thousand species of fauna and flora, including a variety of breeding and wintering birds. There are also areas of reedbeds and woodland.[111]
This site has native woodland, conifer plantations, heath and bog. KWT is gradually removing the conifers to allow natural regeneration, and it also manages the site by grazing and coppicing. Birds include nightjars and nightingales.[113]
These ancient woods on the steep escarpment of the Kent Downs have diverse trees including mature oaks and beeches. Flora include greater butterfly and lady orchids.[117]
This site was clear felled in 1992 and left to regenerate naturally. The KWT acquired it in 2002 and is encouraging native plants and animals to occupy it.[119]
This is the headquarters of the KWT. It has a nature park which is designed to show the variety of habitats in the county, such as a pond, wildflower meadows and woodland.[121]
More than fifty species of birds breed in these woods, and the diverse invertebrate fauna include five nationally rare and thirteen nationally scarce species. There is also a population of the declining and protected hazel dormouse.[125] In July 2022, as part of the Wilder Blean project, European bison were released in to West Blean and Thornden Woods.[126]
This is described by the KWT as an "internationally important yew woodland" on steep chalk slopes. There is also an area of hazel and ash coppice, with ground flora such as butcher's broom and green hellebore.[127]
This sloping site has woodland on dry chalk soils. There are diverse woodland breeding birds, and the ground flora is dominated by bluebells, but there are also many orchids.[131]
Wildlife
The Wilder Blean project, headed up by the Wildwood Trust and Kent Wildlife Trust, introduced European bison to a 2,500-acre conservation area in Blean, near Canterbury.[132] The reintroduction to the UK in 2022, the first time in 6000 years, consisted of a herd of 3 females and 1 male.[133][134] Unknown to the rangers, one of the females was pregnant and gave birth to a calf in October 2022, marking the first wild bison born in the UK for the first time in millennia.[135] The herd's matriarch gave birth to a male calf in winter 2023. In October 2024, the two younger females of the herd gave birth to an additional two female calves, increasing the herd's numbers to 8 animals in total.[136] In January 2025, the project was recognized as one of The Big Issue’s top Changemakers of 2025.[137]
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^ ab"Cromers Wood". Kent Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
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^ ab"Fackenden Down". Kent Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
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^ abc"Polhill Bank". Kent Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
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