Kent Wildlife Trust is calling on supporters to help raise £130,000 by 1 September to fund the long-term work needed to restore habitats and bring wildlife back across the county.
Across Kent, nature is disappearing at an alarming rate. Habitats have been fragmented, rivers reshaped, wetlands drained and species pushed closer to disappearance. More than 200 species in the county are now threatened or endangered, and natural habitats continue to shrink and degrade. State of Nature in Kent report (2021)
The Back from the Brink appeal is part of the Trust's wider Nature Restoration Fund, a three-year programme aiming to raise £3 million by 2030 to reverse this decline.
The reality behind nature recovery
Wilding restores natural processes, helping nature recover with less human intervention over time. While it can appear that the work is finished once trees are planted or scrub is cleared, the reality is that nature recovery takes decades of careful management, specialist knowledge and sustained investment.
The appeal shines a light on what restoration really takes, drawing on examples from across Kent Wildlife Trust's sites:
- At Ironhurst Valley, the Trust's newest reserve, 350 acres of former arable and sheep-grazed farmland are at the very start of a long transformation. Degraded soils are being stabilised and the first signs of woodland and hedgerow are starting to take shape.
- At Hunstead Wood, former conifer plantation is returning to wetland and woodland. Clearing invasive rhododendron - around six hectares so far, at £8,000 per hectare - has been one of the project's biggest tasks.
- At Ham Fen, decades of drainage had degraded the wetland. Restoration through rewetting and grazing has been transformed by the introduction of beavers.
Simon Bateman Brown, Deputy Director of Land Management at Kent Wildlife Trust, said: "Nature doesn't recover overnight or even over a few years. What we're doing at our reserves like Ironhurst Valley, Hunstead Wood and Ham Fen is decades of patient, careful work - rebuilding soils, restoring habitats and giving species the conditions they need to come back.
“Slowly, we hope to see nightingales find shelter in regenerating hedgerows, dragonflies return to rewetted pools, and rare plants and butterflies reclaim spaces where nature was once lost. This appeal funds that work - sustained investment, not a one-off fix.”
Many landscapes across the county are now too degraded to recover unaided. Historically, large herbivores and natural processes shaped Kent's ecosystems, but with many of these species gone, active restoration is often the only way to restart nature's rhythm.
Starting from scratch at Ironhurst Valley
Before Kent Wildlife Trust acquired Ironhurst Valley, the site was farmed for arable crops and sheep grazing, leaving altered soils, faster water run-off and limited woodland connectivity. That is now changing: seed mixes are stabilising soils, pesticide use has stopped, and conservation grazing with longhorn cattle is restoring structural diversity. Woodland regeneration and hedgerow restoration are also underway.
Restoring Ironhurst Valley requires significant investment. Seed mixes alone cost more than £30,000 each year, alongside fencing, infrastructure and ecological monitoring. However, signs of recovery are already emerging, with wildflower meadows establishing and species like longhorn bumblebees returning. In time, Ironhurst Valley will become a rich mosaic of grassland, scrub and woodland.
While government funding supports specific, time-limited conservation projects, much of Kent Wildlife Trust's ongoing work to protect wildlife, care for nature reserves, engage communities and respond to emerging threats from climate change and development relies on the generosity of supporters.
Every donation to the Back from the Brink appeal will help fund the long-term work needed to restore habitats, support wildlife and create healthier landscapes across Kent.
To donate or find out more about the appeal, visit our Back from the Brink campaign page.