Conservationists are urging businesses and industries to fund an ambitious project to restore Kent’s Darent Valley landscape, aiming to protect existing wildlife and reintroduce species like wild brown trout, which have nearly vanished.
Marc Crouch from Kent Wildlife Trust said: “A key aim of the project is habitat and river restoration – re-wetting and creation of wetland habitat, flood mitigation and addressing barriers to fish passage.”
The initiative, supported by a two-year government-funded development phase, now requires private investment to move forward. It is one of 12 national schemes backed by Defra in 2022.
The River Darent, a globally rare chalk stream running from Westerham to the River Thames, is the project’s centrepiece.
Mr Crouch said: “We are on a mission to return this precious chalk stream to a more natural state, reconnected with its floodplain, open to movement of fish, and surrounded by a rich variety of habitats.
“By doing so, we will boost biodiversity, capture carbon, and improve water quality and storage, reducing the impact of floods and droughts.”
He says the project will “support landowners and managers to work together”.
Planned to extend into the 2050s, the restoration will cost “tens of millions of pounds and more,” according to Kent Wildlife Trust.
Dr. Jack Hogan of the South East Rivers Trust described the valley as an “extremely degraded ecosystem.”
“The idea of doing this is to move away from an idea of restoring things in separate pockets, conservation in little areas, and instead think about landscapes as a whole and how ecosystems and landscapes function as a whole.”
The collaboration involves landowners, Kent Wildlife Trust, the South East Rivers Trust, Kent Downs AONB, North West Kent Countryside Partnership, and Natural England.
A spokesperson for Defra said: “Following completion of a grant funded project development phase, project plans will be assessed.”
Successful completion of the funding phase will allow the project to transition into its implementation stage, promising significant ecological benefits for the Darent Valley and beyond.
“This phase of the project will be funded by a blend of public funding and private sector investment.“
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