Tony Juniper & Marian Spain- Natural England visit

KSCP hosts visit by Tony Juniper and Marian Spain of #naturalengland

The Chair and Chief Executive of Natural England came to see one of the 362 ponds the Countryside Management Partnerships have dug over the last seven years in Kent. The visit was hosted by the Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership (KSCP) and the landowner, Tom Barnes, from Biddenden Vineyard.

The visit was to celebrate the 4,000th pond created nationally through the District Level Licensing (DLL) scheme in England. As an alternative scheme to traditional planning mitigation for great crested newts, DLL has proved to be both highly effective as well as popular with developers and conservationists. Here in Kent, the scheme has been particularly successful.

Since 2019, 61% of the 362 ponds created or restored have been colonised by great crested newts, well above the national average of 37%.

During Natural England’s visit, Tony Juniper assisted Emily Davies from the KSCP team with DNA sampling and surveying – work that Countryside Management Partnerships undertake from April to June.

You can read the full press release here: https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/…/enabling…/