Foxearth Wood BNG offset site

Site description

Foxearth Wood is located 1.45 km to the northeast of Cranbrook and 2.45 km to the southwest of Frittenden.

The site comprises ancient lowland mixed deciduous woodland, ponds, and paths/tracks. It falls within the Leggs Wood, Frittenden Local Wildlife Site. This site has been designated because it comprises a series of ancient woodlands with records of at least 34 ancient woodland indicator species occurring throughout.

In 2023, Foxearth Wood was shown to be visited by a turtle dove wearing a radio-tracking device. Turtle doves are a red-list species at high risk of extinction in the UK having declined an estimated 98% since the 1970s, with southeast England being one of the few remaining places to find them. The landowner is keen to encourage more turtle doves to nest on this site.

The key habitat requirement for turtle doves involves a suitable combination of dense scrub/young woodland, accessible seed resource in field margins, and shallow sided ponds.  This project has been designed with the aim of developing this type of habitat mosaic.

Non-priority ponds will be enhanced to priority status, while the ancient woodland will be managed to enhance its condition and create a diversity of structure with open spaces to encourage understorey development and create habitat for turtle dove and a range of other species.

Habitat Transitions