Charity purchases land for rewilding project

Kent Wildlife Trust has purchased 400 acres at Hoathly Farm

A wildlife charity in Kent has purchased 400 acres of land to launch what it describes as one of its most ambitious wilding projects.

Kent Wildlife Trust has acquired Hoathly Farm, near Lamberhurst, after raising £500,000 to unlock match funding from donors.

The charity said the acquisition was its largest land purchase appeal to date.

Paul Hadaway, the charity's director of conservation and engagement, said: "Our focus now is on returning this land to nature, creating a dynamic reserve where vital habitats and wildlife can thrive."

He added: "By allowing the landscape to recover, we open the door for lost species - such as the pine marten - to return, alongside a greater abundance of the wildlife that makes Kent special."

The trust said the acquisition would see the intensively farmed arable land at Hoathly Farm transformed into a wilding corridor that connects Kent and Sussex, "creating a landscape of wood pasture, species-rich meadow, ancient hedgerows and thriving woodland".

Opportunities to rewet the landscape and reestablish the old meanders of the River Teise will also form part a plan that will see the landscape wilded.

Hoathly Farm is the latest site to be acquired by Kent Wildlife Trust, and surrounds Furnace Farm, which the charity already owns.