Bowl WoodBNG offset site

Site description

Bowl Wood is a Kent Wildlife Trust reserve located approximately 1.5 km north of Charing, midway between Ashford and Sittingbourne. It is nestled within a patchwork of farmland and woodlands that make up the landscape within this rural part of Kent.

The northern part of Bowl Wood comprises ancient broadleaved woodland which falls within Spuckles Wood, Stalisfield Green Local Wildlife Site. The LWS is a network of ancient broadleaved woodlands and chalk downland that spans 2.5 km and includes two other Kent Wildlife Trust reserves: Spuckles Wood (which also has BNG units for sale) and Kennelling Wood. It is known to contain the red-listed hazel dormouse as well as a rich community of ancient woodland plant indicator species.

The rest of Bowl Wood is not a wood at all, but is a neutral grassland pasture surrounded by hedgerows with trees, and featuring a large patch of gorse scrub, whose yellow flowers smell of coconut on sunny summer days. Some parts of the grassland support over 15 plant species per square metre.

The plan for this site is to enhance the existing grassland and woodland to good condition, while allowing the area of dense scrub to expand to cover a larger area. This scrub will provide fantastic habitat for a wide range of breeding birds. Over time, this scrub may regenerate into woodland.

Bowl Wood is a public access Kent Wildlife Trust reserve, meaning the results of this project can be experienced and enjoyed by many.

Habitat Transitions