How will you measure the project's success?

To measure change and monitor the impacts of our wilding projects over time, we must always gather data about the site before the project begins. This is called a baseline. All future data is then compared to this baseline so we can start to understand what has changed because of the project.

For the Wilder Blean project, this means that we need to know which wildlife species are present in West Blean and Thornden Woods, and what the vegetation and soil looks like before we start introducing our grazing animals.

More about the Wilder Blean Baseline

Yes, we have developed a comprehensive ecological monitoring programme that will be led by Kent Wildlife Trust’s Wilding Evidence Ecologist and overseen by the Trust’s Conservation Evidence Manager.

This includes monitoring multiple different layers of habitat so that we can detect change wherever it occurs. Everything from soil sampling and worm counts to collecting data on vegetation structure with drone technology. We will be monitoring several different groups of species including, invertebrates, birds and mammals. There will be many opportunities to get involved with this work. Keep an eye out for these opportunities as they arise on our website.