These are key areas of work for the partnership, which span a range of areas in the Stour Valley, and include arts, recreation, health and wellbeing.

 

Ashford Green Corridor

The Ashford Green Corridor is a series of linked green spaces running through the centre of Ashford, open to all for recreation and relaxation to get away from the stresses of urban living.

 

Wildsites on Your Doorstep

Wild Sites on Your Doorstep was all about exploring and enjoying wild places close to where you live, using photography, art and creative writing to help people discover the fantastic landscapes and special wildlife of the Stour Valley.

 

Internal Drainage Board

The Stour (Kent) Internal Drainage Board manage watercourses for land drainage, irrigation and flood prevention in the Stour Valley. We have been working with the IDB for over 10 years, helping them to manage their network of watercourses to enhance biodiversity.

 

Stour Valley Creative Partnership

Stour Valley Creative Partnership is the lead arts organisation based in King’s Wood, Challock.  Formed in 2015 to engage people with the environment through creative activities and to secure the legacy of Stour Valley Arts.  SVCP deliver and support new, innovative and creative projects taking place in, or motivated by, the woods.

 

Ponds for Great Crested Newts

KSCP is one of the delivery bodies for Natural England’s District Level Licensing Scheme for Great Crested Newts. Through the Ponds for Great Crested Newts project, we seek to create or restore ponds in specific hotspot areas to help increase the habitat and range for this European Protected Species.

 

PROWATER

From 2017 to 2022, KSCP took part in the EU-funded PROWATER project to understand how nature-based solutions can make our landscape resilient to the impacts of climate change. We were the delivery body in the Stour catchment, supporting two farmers in trials to improve soil structure to increase water infiltration.

 

Natural Flood Management

Natural Flood Management is a set of techniques for managing flood risk based on restoring natural processes to rivers. It works with the landscape, reshaping river floodplains to have more natural landforms and vegetation.

 

East Kent Sustainable Farming Group

 

The East Kent Sustainable Farming Group is a ‘farm cluster’, working sustainably to protect natural resources whilst maintaining robust farming businesses on a landscape scale. The group is targeted at farmers with land holdings in the catchments of the Upper Stour, Aylesford Stream and East Stour.