We're taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, which means for one week from 2nd - 9th December, any donations made will be doubled through Big Give!
As part of our multi-year KWT Nature Restoration Fund designed to power recovery through a series of targeted fundraising sprints, we are shining the light on our woodland habitats. Funds raised during this sprint contribute to our overall target to raise £3m for nature.
By 2030, we envision a county where woodlands teem with birdsong, burst with butterflies and insects, and tangle with diverse, vibrant plant life. A county where woodlands are more climate-resilient and begin to regenerate for generations to come.
The Wilder Blean is our flagship woodland wilding project here in Kent where, in partnership with Wildwood Trust, we are pioneering a new approach to nature recovery. This December, you could double your donation to the Fund by giving between the 2nd and 9th. Generous match donors - including our Big Give Champion match funders, the Reed Foundation - have already pledged half of the £75,000 we need to raise in this time frame. Help us unlock these funds by donating and your gift will have twice the impact!
© Jim Higham
Woodlands are home to a cacophony of native species. From breeding to hibernating to ruminating, this precious habitat protects and promotes all aspects of their lives. In turn, their natural behaviours contribute to the health of our planet.
Trees are amazing carbon sinks. We rely on woodlands to absorb CO2 and release the oxygen we breathe!
Despite deforestation, many precious woodland sites remain, providing a connection to centuries of history, mythology, and folklore.
Spending time in woodlands, and nature more broadly, brings a huge number of benefits to our physical and mental health and wellbeing.
Despite this, just 7% of the UK's woodlands are in good condition. Ancient woodlands are irreplaceable; they support more species than any other land-based habitat and are home to iconic plants and animals – like bluebells, dormice, and lesser-spotted woodpeckers. But up to 70% have been lost or damaged in the last century.
Read more about life without woodlands here.
Longhorn cow at Covert Wood
Bluebells at Hoad's Wood
Great spotted woodpecker
Sleeping dormouse
Fox at Kiln Wood
Wood anenomes at Blean Wood
Kent Wildlife Trust is driving a pioneering ‘Wilding’ approach which harnesses the power of nature to restore thriving woodlands.
We’re expanding and regenerating native woodland, especially through projects like Wilder Blean, creating rich, dynamic ecosystems where species like nightingales, dormice and lesser spotted woodpeckers can thrive.
In 2022, we, and Wildwood Trust, introduced European bison – known as ‘ecosystem engineers’ for their ability to naturally manage habitats – into West Blean woods, alongside Iron Age pigs, longhorn cattle, and Exmoor ponies. This innovative, experimental project is helping to create a sustainable model that can be replicated to support nature recovery across other woodlands in Kent and the UK.
A world without woodlands would be a living nightmare – instead, let’s envision our county brimming with Wilder Woodlands.
We're taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge to raise money for Wilder Blean: Wilder Woodlands. This means you can double your donation in December - we need to raise £75,000 between 2nd-9th December and generous match donors (including the Reed Foundation) have already pledged half.
These vital funds will help deliver critical aspects of the 'Wilder Blean' project in 2026.
Alongside our conservation partners, we are committed to delivering this long-term flagship project. Raising funds as we go, we aim to demonstrate that nature-based solutions can provide a more sustainable approach to woodland management. Transferring management to those that do it best will allow us to gradually reduce the need for costly and labour-intensive human intervention in the woodlands.
Signs of recovery are seen in abundance throughout the Wilder Blean and our expert Bison Rangers have already recorded rare fungi, butterflies, the protected Fiery Clearwing Moth, and even discovered dung beetles. The bison’s natural behaviours, like grazing, dustbathing, and bark stripping are creating new habitat for species. But this is only the beginning.
With your help to invest in this pioneering project we can expect the woodlands to thrive and species like woodpeckers, bats, and dormice to return once more. The project will also be used as an example for other areas of woodland in the UK and further afield, creating sustainable wilding models which can be replicated elsewhere, and therefore contributing to national nature security.
...who look after our herd of wild bison (as part of the Blean Bison project in partnership with Wildwood Trust) – the first in the UK for thousands of years – and other grazing animals, supporting them to naturally manage 300ha of woodland habitat.
...who are using traditional conservation management – including coppicing and invasive species removal – within separate woodland compartments. This work is enabling us to compare the impact of natural v. human-led management.
Over time, land becomes fragmented which weakens our defense against climate change and stops wildlife from roaming. Innovation and green infrastructure like our Bison Bridges help to correct this by rejoining habitats and removing barriers for wildlife.
The Nature Restoration Fund is Kent Wildlife Trust’s biggest ever appeal aiming to raise £3m by 2030. This ambitious target represents the urgency we now face to tackle the concurrent nature and climate crises.
To shine the spotlight on our wonderful habitats and vibrant species, we’ll be breaking down the appeal into three focused sprints each year. This means that the funding target for each sprint contributes to the overall £3m goal – but it gives everyone the opportunity to support the work they connect with.
In the last century 70% of irreplaceable ancient woodlands across the UK have been lost or damaged. Now, just 7% of UK woodlands are in good ecological condition and ancient woodlands cover just 2.5% of the country. These are terrifying statistics.
Losing this type of habitat throws us off balance, displacing our ecosystems and decimating native species. What we’ve been doing as a country, and how we’ve treated UK woodlands has not been working.
The money we need now will be invested into changing the face of woodland management, using ecosystem engineers, defragmenting the landscape and benchmarking impact against traditional human intervention.
Kent Wildlife Trust relies on philanthropic donations from individuals, major donors, companies and trusts and foundations to fund our work. And, like everyone else, this money is not guaranteed.
While there are some payments, such as Countryside Stewardship Grants, that are available due to the land we manage, these only go a short way to funding the work that must be done.
As with all the work we carry out, things must be done in stages. This allows species to settle into their homes, minimises disruption to habitats and spreads the cost for the Trust. The same is true for Bison and the Blean.
We took a strategic approach to this work and knew it would be one of the biggest investments in nature that we had made to date, excluding land purchase. And this is why it might seem like we’ve raised the money needed before.
In the past we have raised funds to facilitate the arrival of Bison in the Blean, we have also raised funds for build the first of two pairs of Bison Bridges. What we now must secure are the funds to carry out vital woodland habitat works, which include but are not limited to, the defragmentation of the landscape and the work of the rangers that support this vital ecosystem.
The first two Bison Bridges were built and opened in 2025. In total the project will house four Bison Bridges which connect over 250 acres of precious woodland habitat.
Thanks to generous donors we have since raised the funds to build the third bridge, and are now focusing on bridge number four. We aim to build these bridges in 2026, by which time the at-risk fiery clearwing moths that were calling this area home will have hatched and be unaffected by the build.
Your donation will enable the careful management and enhancement of the precious Blean woodland.
Specifically investing in:
Kent Wildlife Trust is entirely reliant on philanthropic donations and therefore we continuously works to raise funds from a range of sources, and this will continue throughout the course of the Big Give.
If we do not raise the funds that we need, we will have to delay on vital works on the site. Due to the nature of the site and licences that apply for protected species, we can only carry out works during certain times. This means that any delays incurred may be significant.
No, the Big Give is free to Kent Wildlife Trust. To make it free at the point of use to charities, The Big Give offers donors the chance to gift 17.5% of their donation to them, funding their future work. To ensure your full donation comes to us, make sure you change or zero-out the amount that goes to the Big Give by choosing 'custom amount'.
The Big Give offers donors the chance to gift a percentage of their donation to them, funding their future work. To ensure your full donation comes to us, make sure you choose ‘custom amount’ and remove the default percentage that goes to the Big Give themselves.
More about The Big Give’s tipping system can be found here.
For all donations you can apply Gift Aid on top - while it’s not counted in the matched funding, it does still unlock an extra 25p per £1 donated at no extra charge to the donor.
Just make sure we have your full legal first name and surname otherwise we won’t be able to claim – initials, nicknames or using your middle name won’t count!
If our target is reached, and all the matched funds have been unlocked, you can still use the Big Give to donate to us until 9th December. Your donations won’t be doubled, but you’ll still be making a huge impact on the health of our precious woodlands.
There are so many ways to support our work, and we value everything you have already done to help us. So, if you have an idea, or think one of the below might be for you, please contact us at [email protected]
Members, supporters, and community representatives:
Companies:
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