Nature in Crisis

Kent Wildlife Trust is trying to raise half a million pounds from the public to restore nightingales and other wildlife to land near Scotney Castle.

The Trust needs the funds by 24th May to buy land at Hoathly Farm that’s currently up for sale on the open market.

Kent Wildlife Trust says that Britain is facing a "nature crisis", with a drop in flying insects in Kent of around 80% over the past two decades.

The charity plans to "rewild" the Hoathly farmland to restore habitat for a range of animals and birds.

It would create "a near continuous landscape for nature recovery" connecting the National Trust's Scotney Castle and Bewl Water in Sussex. 

The Trust says the appeal is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for nature.”

The land it wants adjoins Kent Wildlife Trust's existing reserve of Furness Farm, which is also being rewilded from arable land.

The charity wants native bird species like yellowhammer, nightingale and turtle dove to return to what it describes as previously “intensively farmed Grade 3 arable farmland, depleted of soil nutrients and wildlife".

The Trust would plant new hedgerows and manage hedgerows at different times of the year (and at different levels) to encourage different species to return.

The regeneration also involves letting "nature take its course" managed by natural grazing with animals such as cows, pigs and sheep.

The Head of Fundraising for Kent Wildlife Trust, Talia Sherrin-Gates, told West Kent Radio that if the appeal is successful then: "You might be able to hear nightingales singing again in the landscape."

Some critics on social media have suggested the land should be retained for growing food. 

But Talia explains that improving the diversity of this parcel of depleted land will itself improve resilience for growing food on other nearby farms.

Rewilding can mitigate wider flood risks, while maintaining hedgerows allows birds to thrive and those birds will help to control insects that may damage nearby crops.

Talia told us: "The sourcing of food for the UK is unfortunately something we won't be able to influence. But the importance of making sure we are still able to farm and to yield good crops is really more what we can influence."

She says: ”If we continue in a nature and climate crisis, there is no doubt that farming and yielding crops will be affected because naturally the ground you are working in is affected.  But if we are able to create extra biodiversity and climate resilience within a landscape, then it will have a knock-on beneficial effect to the other farmlands that are in the landscape." 

The parcels of land Kent Wildlife Trust wants most are two lots from Hoathly Farm, which are named Mount Pleasant (36 acres), and Clay Hill (168 acres) - see map below.

Talia Sherrin-Gates says creating a near continuous landscape for wildlife from Bewl Water to Scotney Castle is really important. 

She continues: “The connection allows more biodiversity to take root.  If it is a bird looking for a nesting site and a food source, they can jump through that landscape - as they need - rather than it being a little island, which obviously stops them from thriving."

The existing Trust site at Furness Farm and Hoathly Farm both have public footpaths, so it will be possible for the public to walk through the land.

Talia says the woodland and hedgerows already on the site are at risk of depleting further if the Trust is unusccessful in its fund raising.

The River Teise runs through the landscape, still following many of its original meanders. The Wildlife Trust says that by restoring the landscape it can recreate a grass and woodland complex along the valley bottom, improving water quality, reducing run off and providing flood prevention.

Talia Sherrin-Gates of Kent Wildlife Trust says: "This is a brilliant opportunity to regenerate, restore and connect and restore a piece of land that would give us a real stronghold for nature in that landscape. And hopefully then help people and nature thrive together.”

She concludes: “We would allow people to walk through these reserves and witness this wildlife we are talking about and hear the nightingale sing. There are so many well-being benefits. We really need it.”

For more details on the appeal:
https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/hoathly-farm-appeal

Listen to Talia Sherrin-Gates of Kent Wildlife Trust:

Background Facts:

* Kent Wildlife Trust is a charity started in 1958. It is funded by donations and grants. It has 33,000 members.

* It owns or manages 90 wildlife reserves in Kent, ranging from ancient woodlands to chalk downland, grasslands and farmland. 

* It works with schools and companies and even runs "farmer cluster groups" around the county that allow local farmers to discuss issues amongst each other.

* Government’s “State of Nature” report says that since 1970 UK species have declined by about 19% on average, and 16% of species  are threatened with extinction.

* Kent Wildlife Trust and Bug Life's National Citizen Science Survey 'Bugs Matter' reports from the 2023 survey season (the most recently published) that the abundance of flying insects sampled on vehicle number plates has fallen by 78% since 2004.