Bison having 'great impact' on woods, ranger says

A herd of bison is having a "great impact" on woodlands just a few years after being introduced in a UK-first to help manage habitat for wildlife, conservationists say.

The bison in Blean Woods, Kent, have also been inspiring people about more wildlife-rich habitat.

With new "bison bridges" opening up in the reserve, the animals will soon be roaming across 200 hectares (500 acres) of woodland, the team behind the scheme says.

The project by Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Kent to bring in European bison aims to restore complex habitats that help nature thrive and be more able to cope with climate change, and store carbon.

The animals' natural behaviour of grazing, felling trees, eating bark and taking dust baths opens the canopy, allows woodland regeneration and creates new spaces for other wildlife.

Wildlife monitoring and research will show, over time, what effect the bison are having.

But Hannah Mackins, bison and conservation grazing ranger, said they were already starting to see a difference in the part of the wood they have been in until now.

"Walking through there, we have a lot more light on the woodland floor, we have species growing through that wouldn't have had before, because it was so dense with trees, bracken and brambles," she said.

"They are having a great impact already."

Alison Ruyter, wilder grazing lead at Kent Wildlife Trust, said: "If we hadn't had that big budget to bring people along, to tell that story, do it in this place, it wouldn't have had the impact it has had," adding the project had fired people's imaginations.

She said the scheme was not about turning the clock back, but added: "We are looking at how we can use these elements of nature we've lost and bring back something that's similar, to do the jobs that they used to do to create this ecosystem."

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