West Blean and Thornden Woods is a biological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

north of Canterbury in Kent. It is part of the Blean Woods Nature Conservation Review site (a Grade I site), and an area of is a nature reserve managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. The woods form one of the largest areas of ancient woodland in the UK, with parts of it over 1,000 years old. These woods have more than fifty species of breeding birds, and the diverse invertebrate fauna include five nationally rare and thirteen nationally scarce species. There is also a population of the declining and protected hazel dormouse. In July 2022, as part of the Wilder Blean project, European bison were released in to West Blean and Thornden Woods. The reintroduction to the UK in 2022, the first time in 6000 years (apart from an unsuccessful project in Scotland in 2011), is to consist of a herd of 3 females and 1 male. The bisons’ natural behaviour is expected to transform an area of former commercial pine forest into a natural woodland.

Exmoor ponies The Exmoor pony is one of the mountain and moorland pony breeds native to the British Isles. Some still roam as semi-feral livestock on Exmoor, a large area of moorland in Devon and Somerset in southwest England. The Exmoor has been given "P ...

, iron age pigs and English Longhorn cattle are also to be released into the woods. There is access to the nature reserve but some areas are private land.

References

{{Kent Wildlife Trust Kent Wildlife Trust Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Kent Forests and woodlands of Kent Rewilding in the United Kingdom