Site Last Updated
2 January 2008

‘The Future of Kent’s Wildlife in the Thames Gateway’

The Lynsted with Kingsdown Society’s post-AGM lecture was given this year by Richard Moyes, formerly Senior Conservation Officer with the Kent Wildlife Trust, and now its Head of Conservation and Policy. Richard is known to members through the walk he led through the Doddington countryside in the spring of 2006.

Richard explained that the KWT, one of 47 trusts, nationwide, has been in existence for 50 years, and had 28,000 members. It was a community-led group, but employed 60 staff. Through its reserves and other means, the Trust cares for wildlife across the county. This includes roadside verges, designated sites and the seashore – the habitats created by wind farms are a recent preoccupation. The Trust is a campaigning organisation, and also helps farmers to institute countryside stewardship schemes. It is involved in education: 12,000 children a year pass through its training centre at Tyland Barn near Maidstone.

The  Thames Gateway is an area of land stretching east from London on both sides of the Thames estuary. The eastern boundary in Kent is Conyer Creek – so Lynsted with Kingsdown parish is just within it. The Gateway is earmarked for development (120,000 new houses up to 2026) and is clearly a ‘zone of change’.   The area contains many Sites of Special Scientific Interest as well as Dartford Heath, one of only two heathlands in the county. The coastal estuary areas are of international importance for birds. Some species, such as the hen harrier and shrill carder bee, are nationally rare but present in good numbers in Kent’s Gateway area. The challenge is, therefore, to preserve such sensitive wildlife in the face of change.  Richard made the point that wildlife is no respecter of man’s classifications: a derelict industrial site can bloom with wild flowers and thus support a range of insects. So careful regeneration of previously-used sites with potential for supporting wildlife is important.

The Trust tackles the challenges posed by the Gateway, by responding to planning applications, by lobbying to influence policy, and by working with influential partnership groups such as, locally, Swale Forward. 

Richard ended his talk by stating that it is by no means a ’losing battle’.  On the strategic front, the South East Plan process is providing a means of joining together  very large tracts of similar habitats, enabling them to support a wider range of species. Such a process would also help to bring such ‘living landscapes’ nearer to human habitation.

Richard’s upbeat presentation was amply illustrated by excellent photographs of the creatures he described.  A substantial audience of members and friends learned much about how the county’s natural heritage is managed, protected, and where possible expanded, as we face an uncertain future.

For more information about the Trust, visit www.kentwildlifetrust.co.uk.

Bob Baxter.

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