A leading Kent conservationist has been named as one of the top 100 UK environmental professionals to have made the greatest impact in the past two years.

Chief Executive of Kent Wildlife Trust Evan Bowen-Jones was revealed as one of the standout professionals on the ENDS Report 2024 power list released by the publication this week.

The publication’s flagship Power List, now in its third year, celebrates the profession’s most impactful individuals, featuring successful nominees from government departments and regulators, NGOs, environmental consultancies and law firms, academia, and more.

To feature on the list, an individual must have met at least one of four broad criteria:

• They may have shaped or influenced national or local environmental policy.
• Their actions may have enhanced the reputation of the environmental profession.
• Their work may have resulted in demonstrable and positive environmental improvements.
• They may be unsung heroes whose work is delivering positive change without receiving the recognition they deserve.

Evan was nominated for his work over the past three years delivering Kent Wildlife Trust’s ambitious strategy for a Wilder Kent. The strategy hinges on finding impactful local solutions to tackling the national and global nature and climate crises at speed, and in the most defensible and pragmatic manner possible.

As chief executive of the Trust, he was also responsible for the birth of Wilder Carbon: an initiative that now has a dozen English Wildlife Trusts, as well as John Muir Trust in Scotland, signed up as local deliverers, making it scalable and investable.

Evan Jones has a 25-year professional conservation background that encompasses implementation of species and landscape-level conservation projects; analysis of international policy; and working with NGOs, governments and corporates to deliver real gains for wildlife all over the world.

With project partners Wildwood Trust, he also led Kent Wildlife Trust in delivering the UK's first wilding project using wild bison, to offer a nature-based solution to the climate and biodiversity crises.

Chief Executive of Kent Wildlife Trust Evan Bowen-Jones said: "I am humbled to feature in the 2024 ENDS Power List alongside so many brilliant people. At Kent Wildlife Trust Group we’ve an amazing team focused on action and innovation to combat the climate and nature emergency we’re in. This is why we’re pioneering using bison as ecosystem engineers to provide ecological resilience through Wilder Blean, and have established Wilder Carbon as the UK standard for nature-based carbon offsetting.  And, its why we’re working with decision-makers to promote the use of these financial and ecological tools to create a national Strategic Nature Network that scales up habitat restoration across the country.

“Conservation is now about preserving a safe operating space for people.  This means working with others to do more quicker, better, and with more ambition. This is why the ENDS list is such a source of hope."

The individuals on this year’s Power List were selected following a rigorous process including a survey of ENDS Report’s readership, and the help of a panel of experts in the field.

ENDS Report editor Jamie Carpenter said: "The Power List is a celebration of the vast reserves of talent that exist in the environmental profession, and aims to shine a light on work of those whose efforts are delivering positive change.

"As in previous years, we have been humbled by the response to this exercise and have been struck by the countless examples of environmental professionals who met one or more of our criteria – many more than we can name on our list."