©David Green
The management of this site by Kent Wildlife Trust has created areas of coarse grass and broken short turf, which encourages a myriad of species to flourish. The habitat preference of Straw Belle for short, warm, herb-rich grassland with a mosaic of bare patches for early stages and tussocks for adult stages has been achieved through light cattle grazing.
Kent Wildlife Trust’s Estates Team has a combined total of 100 years of conservation grazing experience on nature reserves. With the aim to mimic natural grazing processes as far as possible, targeted conservation grazing is used on sites like National Nature Reserves where there is a well-established habitat condition to be maintained.
The management of cattle grazing is essential for these moths and for many other species that thrive at our Lydden Temple Ewell National Nature Reserve. The Straw Belle Moth fills a very similar niche to our wart biter crickets, another rarity that is restricted to a handful of sites in the country.Ian Rickards, Area Manager
The view from Lydden Temple Ewell reserve, photo by Ray Lewis. Photo by Ray Lewis
Ashford Area Warden Will Glasson reflects on his first full year working across the local sites in this blog, co-written with long-time volunteer Margery Thomas.
Volunteer, Margery Thomas, explores winter on Hothfield Heathlands - one of Kent's last four valley bogs and one of its few remaining fragments of open heath.
Long-time volunteer, Margery Thomas, talks us through all the exciting fungi at Hothfield Heathlands and their importance.
