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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Book now for our November/December term of Nature Tots! 🌳 Sevenoaks - Monday mornings, Thursday mornings, and Thursday afternoons (from 2 Nov) 🌳 Maidstone - Tuesday mornings and Friday mornings (from 6 Nov) Book here: www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-… 📷©️ Tim Horton

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This critter is a 'pseudoscorpion', found at the Blean on a BioBlitz! Pseudoscorpions are much smaller than scorpions, only measuring up to around 8mm in length. They share the classic pincers, but no stinging tail 🦂 It really does take all creatures great and small to make a healthy ecosystem. 🐞🦬

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

As the sun sets over Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve this October half term, join us family activity bat detecting evening. 🦇🌙 🦇 Saturday 24 October and Thursday 29 October 📍 Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve Book now at kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/half-term-family-activities

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Ivy bees have been hard at work at Nemo Down! In this video taken by East Kent Downland Warden, Karen, you can see (and hear) them all digging tunnels to lay their eggs. 🔊

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

There is just 1 week left to respond to the public consultation for the Draft Kent Mineral Sites Plan 2026. 🚨 If you haven't already responded, now's your chance to have a say about the future of Oaken Wood, where 41 hectares of ancient woodland are at risk of being destroyed for quarrying.

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Last Friday, the Sharks of Kent team headed to Dover Admiralty Pier for a theory & practical session with 3 highly experienced anglers from the Dover Sea Angling Association. We're excited to welcome DSAA to the project and are grateful for their support! 🦈 About the project: kwtg.uk/sharksofkent

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Wednesday marks the official start of autumn, with the equinox falling at 01:06 in the morning. 🍂 For a short while, day and night will be of near equal length until the evenings start to draw in as we move towards winter...

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Introducing the Win for Wildlife Lottery!🎫 For just £1 per week, you'll be helping wildlife thrive across Kent while being entered into draws with the chance to win an incredible £10,000 jackpot prize. Play today: lottery.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk T&Cs apply

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Looking for something a little different for your child this October half term? Let them swap screens for the great outdoors at our Wilder Holiday Club! Tyland Barn 👉 Mon 26 & Tues 27 Oct Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve 👉 Weds 28 & Thurs 29 Oct Book now kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-on/holiday-club

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This autumn, our adult study days and courses offer the chance to get curious and discover more about the wildlife and wild places of Kent - guided by people who know them inside out. Come and discover something new this autumn. Book online at kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-on/wildlife-study-days

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Autumn vibes on our reserves 🍂 These photos were all taken in a single morning by Jess (Grazing Ranger) at various reserves - Nashenden Down, Heather Corrie Vale, Holborough Marshes, Peter's Pit. Gorgeous, right?! 😊 Check out our reserves: www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature…

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

It's been a year since we purchased Hoathly Farm - so we're celebrating its anniversary! 🥳 It's thanks to generous donors and supporters like you that we we were able to secure a whopping 350+ acres of land in Lamberhurst...

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Leave a legacy for nature 🍂 More than 20% of our income comes from gifts in wills, helping protect Kent’s wild places for the future. 💚 This autumn, write or update your will for free with Octopus Legacy, covered up to £150.* There’s no obligation to leave a gift to us. kwtg.uk/legacyautumn26

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

New research maps where pine martens could thrive again in Britain - using pine marten records from across Europe for the first time. Published in Landscape Ecology as part of our South East Pine Marten Restoration Project. Read the paper: kwtg.uk/pinemartenresearch

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Oaken Wood is a living, breathing habitat, filled with rare and exciting species - including ancient woodland indicators. 🌱 And yet a Mineral Sites Plan threatens to destroy it... How is this even a possibility when the National Planning Policy Framework is meant to protect irreplaceable habitats?

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

🍂 Hello, September! As summer gives way to autumn, wildlife is entering a time of change. Bats are hunting, badgers are foraging, butterflies are still on the wing and froglets are exploring ponds. 🦇🦡🦋🐸 And fungi are beginning to appear... 🍄 Stay tuned for an announcement!

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

🍁 Come and welcome autumn at Nature Tots! Explore the outdoors with your little one through pond dipping, seasonal crafts and wildlife discoveries. 🐸🔎 Forest-school inspired sessions for pre-schoolers. Book a block for less or pay as you go. 👉 kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-on/nature-tots

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

📸 Want to see your photograph in an exhibition?🏆 There’s one month left to enter our Photography Competition! 🏆 Category winners & commendations will have their photos displayed at Sevenoaks Visitor Centre this winter. ✨ Enter by 30 Sept: kwtg.uk/photography-competition

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Hothfield Heathlands is one of Kent's last heathlands – Kent Wildlife Trust has managed it for Ashford Borough Council since 1992. It costs £60,000 a year to keep this rare habitat alive for species like barn owls and keeled skimmer dragonflies. Help us continue this work – link in bio!

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Home Ed Nature Explorers is back for autumn! 🍂 Join us at Sevenoaks from 14 Sept or Maidstone from 18 Sept for forest school-style sessions full of fallen leaves, free play and seasonal exploring. Book your place: kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/education/forest-school/home-education

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Have you spotted some beautiful silhouettes darting and diving in the summer sky? Swifts, swallows, and house martins are all summer visitors to the UK. Here are our top tips to work out what you might have spotted! Let us know if you've spotted any on our reserves in the comments 👇

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

🌊🦈 Sharks of Kent is bringing citizen science to the coast! So far, 5 anglers have been trained, 2 charter boats are tagging and 30+ smooth-hound sharks have been tagged, helping fill vital gaps in our knowledge of sharks, skates and rays. adonisblueenvironmental.org.uk/case-studies/sharks-of-kent

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

📣 The Kent Draft Minerals Sites Plan consultation deadline is now 17 Sept — an extra week to help Save Oaken Wood. Proposed quarrying would destroy at least 41ha of ancient woodland — more than HS2 and the Lower Thames Crossing combined. 👉 kwtg.uk/save-oaken-wood

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

It's been a hot few months on Hothfield Heathlands! ☀️ The heath - specialised for harsh conditions - has coped well and flowering hasn't been affected. Hear from volunteer, Margery Thomas, about recent work & sightings in her monthly blog: kwtg.uk/hothfield-august-26 📷 Pics by Area Manager, Ian

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

We can't afford to lose Oaken Wood. ❌ Here are our top 5 concerns about the proposed extension of Hermitage Quarry, which puts at least 41 hectares of ancient woodland at risk. The good thing is that YOU can help by responding to the public consultation (closes 10 September)! (1/2)

Oaken Wood: Our top 5 concerns and why we can't afford to lose this ancient woodland

1. Ancient woodland can't be replaced. The National Planning Policy Framework says that development that destroys irreplaceable habitats like ancient woodland should be refused unless there's a wholly exceptional reason and a credible plan to compensate for the loss. Oaken Wood's allocation as a quarry site hasn't met either test. At least 41 hectares of ancient woodland are at stake.

2. “Compensation” is unclear & unrealistic. Alongside compensating for the loss of ancient woodland, any quarrying within Oaken Wood would also need to deliver suitable compensation for the deterioration of the ancient woodland left behind, any legal mitigation requirements for protected species, and the delivery of a Biodiversity Net Gain. No such plan exists or has been shown to be deliverable.

3. Ancient woodland is a vital carbon store. Ancient woodland makes up about a quarter of UK woodland but holds 37% of all the carbon stored in our woods and trees. Up to 75% of the carbon stored in UK forests is actually in the soil, not the trees. The woodland soils have absorbed significant amounts of carbon over centuries. No assessment has shown the true climate cost of this loss.

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Join us in September & October for a new term of Nature Tots in Sevenoaks & Maidstone! 🐛 Nature Tots is a relaxed Forest School-inspired group for toddlers & preschoolers (aged 2–5) - think bug hunting, den building, crafts & free play. Book here: www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-on/nature-tots

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

We're shining the spotlight on one of our Wilder Kent Awards 2025/26 winners: EKC Group, Broadstairs College! Broadstairs College, who won Gold in our ceremony back in March, delivered one of the most wide-ranging and ambitious entries we had seen... (1/3)

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

We appreciate how frustratingly complicated the consultation response process is for KCC's Draft Minerals Sites Plan. To help you make your voice heard to save Oaken Wood, this video outlines how to go through the form step-by-step. 🌳 youtu.be/h9-nuGLkvXY

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

National Grid has rerouted a £430m cable to avoid Dobby’s memorial. Why can’t they find another route for Sea Link to avoid the irreplaceable, internationally protected habitats of Pegwell Bay & Minster Marshes? kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/campaigns/rethink-sea-link

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Ancient woodland can't just be "put back" once destroyed. Some of the recent claims made about the expansion of Hermitage Quarry into Oaken Wood really don't stand up to scrutiny. 🔎 The simple truth is that the proposals would result in the loss of at least 41 hectares of ancient woodland...

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

⚠️Wildfire risk is high right now, and we need your help to protect nature! Please be cautious, considerate, and aware of the factors that pose a fire risk. Our heart goes out to all the nature reserves and wild spaces across the UK that have sadly experienced fires this year. 💔

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

🚨 1,500 new homes are proposed for land immediately north of Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve... We're concerned about the impacts this major development could have on the reserve. You can stand with us by responding to the public consultation, open now until 17 September: kwtg.uk/preserve-sevenoaks

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Open Garden Day at Tyland Barn 🌿 Sat 8 August, free entry! Explore our redesigned gardens — dry garden, veg planters, pollinator planting & more. Free guided tours all day. Plus ticketed workshops: cyanotype printing & pond dipping. 11am - 3pm 👉 kwtg.uk/open-garden-summer

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

This morning our Planning & Policy Officer Nick Trower spoke on BBC Radio Kent, defending Oaken Wood from quarrying. Ancient woodland takes centuries to form — soil networks, species, carbon storage — and can't be replanted. 41 hectares isn't a "continuation" (according to Gallagher). It's loss.

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The before & after of some ragwort pulling at Heather Corrie Vale! We're focusing on pulling ragwort near the boundary areas closest to our neighbours to reduce the risk of the ragwort spreading...

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Oaken Wood is under threat - again. > kwtg.uk/save-oaken-wood

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

How many butterflies have you spotted this summer? 🦋 Try Bugs Matter: count insect splats on your number plate as a nature survey, running til Sept 👉 kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/bugs-matter Or join the Big Butterfly Count, ending 9 Aug 👉 bigbutterflycount.org #citizenscience #butterflies

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

🐬 This National Marine Week, help us watch over Kent's dolphins, porpoises & whales. We're recruiting Landwatch volunteers to monitor cetacean activity along the Kent coast — citizen science that shapes how we protect our seas. Fancy joining? 👉 ow.ly/o6wQ50Zv3kR

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Our first BioBlitz at Vauxhall Lakes on 20 July saw over 20 volunteers logging 300+ species in a day, from firecrests and kingfishers to willow emerald damselflies and jersey tiger moths — plus plenty of beaver signs. Great data to help shape how we manage this wetland refuge.

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Meet the app that makes action for nature simple, rewarding, and fun! ⚡ On MyWilderKent, our free app, you can earn badges, find inspiration, take part in seasonal activities, see what your community is doing for wildlife, and so much more...

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Hunstead Wood was once a dark conifer plantation. 25+ years of restoration later, nightingales, grass snakes and dragonflies are returning. But the work isn't done. Clearing invasive rhododendron alone costs £8k/hectare. 👉 Help bring Hunstead Wood back from the brink - kwtg.uk/back-from-the-brink

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Oaken Wood update: where we are & where we're headed 👇 As many of you will be aware, Kent County Council (KCC) is progressing with their draft Kent Mineral Sites Plan which continues to allocate Oaken Wood, near Maidstone, for the extraction of hard rock...

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

🦬 3 things to expect from a Bison Ranger Experience: 1️⃣ Hands-on tracking tech 2️⃣ Updates from the people who know the herd best 3️⃣ Best chance of spotting wild bison 📅 Jul 30 | Aug 8 | Aug 19 | Sep 7 | Sep 17 kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-on/bison-ranger-experiences

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Spotlighting one of our Wilder Kent Awards 2025/26 gold winners: Communigrow! 💡 Communigrow is an outstanding example of how food growing can transform lives, strengthen communities,  and restore nature all at the same time. 💛 Could you take part in the Wilder Kent Awards this year? kwtg.uk/wka-26

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

It's amazing how fast wildlife moves in once given space. Near Canterbury, seed-sown meadows are thick with ox-eye daisies. Ponds are alive with dragonflies, black-tailed skimmers and nearby a turtle dove sings. We're only just starting - help Kent's nature recovery: kwtg.uk/back-from-the-brink

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Huge congrats to Sandown School in Deal! After joining our Wilder Schools programme this year, they've won the REACH Award 'Green Organisation of the Year 2026' from Dover District Council for their nature conservation & community engagement work! 🏆 Funding from Barratt David Wilson

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Happy as a... pig in a trough! 🐷 This was last week during the hotter weather. Area Warden, Will, was down to Hothfield training a volunteer on carrying out pig checks, when they found this one enjoying a cool-down in a water trough. This check was an easy tick! ✅😂

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Ironhurst Valley is only just beginning its restoration journey — this early stage takes real resources. 🌾 Area Manager Dan shows what's happening now: wildflower seeding to stabilise soils, and wetlands planned to help protect Lamberhurst from flooding. Donate at kwtg.uk/back-from-the-brink

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

New blog by volunteer Margery on July at Hothfield Heathlands: a bat and amphibian walk turned up pipistrelles, frogs, newts and a singing nightingale. Plus two orchids uncommon in Kent, thriving in the reserve's unusual acid soils – heath spotted and southern marsh orchid. kwtg.uk/julyhothfield

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Kent Wildlife Trust @kentwildlife.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Area Manager Ian Rickards is at Hunstead Wood, showing why nature sometimes needs help to heal. Managing this reserve costs £30k+ a year. Our goal is a site that manages itself again, with natural processes doing the work. 💚 Help us get there kwtg.uk/back-from-the-brink

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