Tiny Treks by KentOnline / KMTV - Dailymotion

KentOnline / KMTV

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00:00Westbleene and Thorndon Woods has been on our tiny treks bucket list for some time and that

00:08is for one reason alone. It's home to a vast nature reserve including the UK's first wild

00:14bison herd introduced after 6,000 years back in 2022. Despite being Europe's largest land

00:23animals weighing in at 300 to 920 kilos they are incredibly elusive. Eddie lovely to meet you

00:31how's it going? We're hoping our guide Eddie will be able to help us spot some of the diverse wildlife

00:37that call these woods home. Eddie we're so excited to be here we've spoken about doing this walk for

00:44ages and know a little bit about the project but how did bison long extinct in the UK in the wild

00:52how did they come back to be in this part of Kent? Well the wilder bleem project was started

00:59a few years back to try and bring natural processes back to the woodland. You'll have a question in a

01:06sec I promise you I promise you can ask questions. So the bison are that we describe them as eco engineers

01:13so they're brought into the woodland to carry out their bison work and to do a lot of like clearing

01:20of the trees uh they also debark to give more detail but what they do is they basically they

01:26kick down trees they break down shrubs and they create space and they create a more dynamic environment

01:32and they uh and this leads to uh improvement in our woodland's health. What is it about the species that

01:39that really you know make you know make you think they're such an awesome animal? Oh well I mean the old

01:44ranger here who trained me he always described them as a swiss army knife of like because what it is

01:50is that they have so many different behaviors and so many different ways that they interact with the

01:55woodland that are beneficial to it so I spoke earlier about clearing trees they also they'll pull

02:01trees down they'll use their big strong neck to pull trees down so they can get to the fresh growth

02:05at the top so this is effectively like coppicing which is the practice human practice of just cutting

02:11trees down in the woods so they snap them down they create sunlight and then that sunlight allows

02:17the herb layer and other flowers and smaller plants to grow and then the knock-on effect is

02:21that's beneficial for our invertebrates and then you know that's food for the birds and so on and so on

02:27but you know they they take trees down they debark trees which creates standing deadwood also good

02:32for inverts and uh good for decay fungi and create interesting trees our cavities for bats you know so

02:39they have lots of different behaviors that are beneficial for the woods as well as bison on this

02:43site you may have a chance depending on the time of year of seeing ponies cattle and we also have

02:50our ironing pigs on site as well and so we head off along the wild art trail to see what woodland

02:57wildlife we might stumble across while some areas are closed off for the bison pigs and other animals

03:06there are footpaths open to the public

03:25many are pram friendly but slings might be easier after wet weather

03:28so eddie we stopped here because this is a pretty good spot to tell us a little bit about how we're

03:39not gonna you know bump into a bison on our walk tell us a little bit about exactly so this right

03:45here is what we call the compartment so uh this compartment is called small wood and what it is is

03:51it's about uh probably about 25 30 hectares and inside we've got a mixture of woodland and then

04:00the first layer of fencing is the electric fence and that's to keep the bison in and and then this

04:05outer layer is what we call the outer fence or the people fence so this is technically the keeping people

04:10out of the bison if you're lucky enough and you come down this trail and you manage to see the bison

04:16inside here come up to the fence line and get as close as you can have a nice look see if you can spot

04:21them they won't be there for long you know they'll be browsing their way through the trees or like

04:25grazing around the edge of the fence line and you only get a few minutes until they melt back into

04:29the tree line so yeah they won't run from people they're used to people being out and about

04:35the ponies on the other hand you could bump into the ponies around here but you just keep a safe

04:41distance we've got lots of information and safety information at all the entrances so you'll be

04:45absolutely fine yeah wandering around with your kids yeah fab well i think that was a good break

04:49for all of us should we crack on then yeah after you

04:59and just as eddie said a few moments before look who we come across

05:06so we've come across the herd of fell ponies all looking pretty comfortable completely nonplussed about

05:12us yeah yeah they're used to people wandering around the woods so these ponies are here to

05:18graze the woods and browse the trees in the woods just doing their own bit of woodland management

05:24yeah they're very used to people we only say that you keep two animal lengths away from the animals

05:28when you're here but yeah they're very used to people they yeah as you can see not reacting to us

05:32being here at all and tell us a little bit about the herd you know what makes them stand out especially this

05:38this lovely mare here yeah so this beautiful mare here she's in charge so uh and she is uh she looks

05:44like she's keeping them in yeah yeah she's a fellow bunny probably a mixed breed which is why she's a bit

05:50bigger uh but yeah she's in charge um she keeps an eye on these four uh younger males here so keeping

05:58that's because he literally keeping an eye on them right now but yeah she's in charge keeps them in check

06:03and uh yeah and they're just here doing their their good work managing our woodlands for her

06:08she was brought here as an individual she uh believed she was like a pet or for riding both

06:15so she's very comfortable around people uh she can uh be moved around with eat with absolute ease and

06:21it's great because they all follow her so if she needs if her times you know the time's up for the

06:25ponies on site you know our contract will come in and and all you have to do is take her onto the

06:30truck and walk her on and then we've got to follow her on so it's very convenient for us

06:34uh yeah and uh usually the animals they come from they could be old pets that they do come from uh the

06:40meat market we would just go to the market and pick up some animals uh there that are no longer

06:45viable but they're still viable that's right they're still viable for us um all they've got to do all

06:49they've got to do is uh have like i said eat some food and uh be calm around people and that's all they

06:54need to be so he can well ali's loving it he's just had a couple of he's got snacks and a show at the

06:59moment he's very very pleased yeah really lucky to have bumped into them because they they move all

07:05the way around site uh grazing all of the trail edges and uh our fence line edges so yeah very nice

07:12and lucky to bump into them as our tiny trek approaches the end i'm curious to know what the

07:19future of the project will look like and indeed how its success will be secured so just at the end

07:26um good bit of fresh air for ali here he's absolutely knocked out um you know we've come with

07:34uh we come with ali and all these walks are for young families and young kids and i imagine when

07:41you're taking school groups out and your and your other rangers are doing that and taking young people

07:45out education is really key as well it is about being out in nature but it's also about going home

07:51with some really important messaging as well yeah well i think some of the most important messaging is

07:55that uh nature is for everyone and for all ages um we have a forest school that comes out here and they

08:03learn how to you know have fun out here you know uh build a fire from scratch you know even the little

08:11uh flint like lighter and they have a great time and you'll find that um a lot of the kids that are

08:18from the classroom that maybe particularly don't do super well or they can't focus as much they maybe

08:24they're the top few students out in the woods you know it's a completely different skill set and i think

08:29it really just broadens minds you know it's very important well it's been a lovely walk it's been

08:34really educational he's having a nap i'll probably have a little nap when we get back as well eddie thank you

08:39so much for your time today absolute pleasure cheers thank you

Tiny Treks: West Blean and Thornden Woods

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