Wildwood celebrates Ten Years

Photos: Phil Houghton

On Friday 12th June Wildwood Kent's award winning woodland discovery park celebrated its tenth birthday.

The park invited those involved with the original setting up of the park, trustees of the charity, staff, as well as current members.

Keepers had made a special birthday cake made of sugar free sponge and covered in dog food icing, and decorated with dog biscuits and peanuts.

This was presented to our two hand reared badgers - Big and Medium Boar, who with no encouragement tucked in to the birthday cake.

"Wildwood proper came in to existence ten years ago," commented Peter Smith Chief Executive of Wildwood, "and became a charity a little while later, over the years we have given many visitors great pleasure as well as making a positive difference in the conservation of British species."

Wildwood Trust is developing a unique understanding of British wildlife and its conservation, and our expertise is being utilised by nearly all the government and non-governmental organisations concerned with protecting our natural environment.

There are a huge range of British animals and birds that can be seen at the Wildwood Discovery Park near Canterbury. For more information visit our website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 0871 7820081.

Wildwood's 'Wildlife Conservation Park' is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come 'nose to nose' with British Wildlife. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here, like the wolf, beaver, red squirrel, wild boar and many more.

Wildwood is situated close to Canterbury, just off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury.



Wildwood is a unique charity which promotes nature conservation. We do this from our unique Woodland Discovery Park which allows people a chance to see British wildlife past and present in an ancient woodland habitat.

Wildwood Trust is developing a unique understanding of British wildlife and its conservation, and our expertise is being utilised by nearly all the government and non-governmental organisations concerned with protecting our natural environment.

Many of the wild animals that we work with at Wildwood are in urgent need of protection, and are listed in local and national Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs). These species include the water vole, red squirrel, pine martin and harvest mouse and the hazel dormouse. The water vole, which was until recently widespread in lowland Britain , is now the most endangered mammal in the UK . These critically endangered species need to be rescued, trans-located and captive bred if we are to ensure their survival.

Wildwood has developed a highly successful water vole breeding and reintroduction programme over the past few years. We now want to continue this successful conservation programme across other Endangered UK BAP registered species.

The mission of Wildwood Trust is to conserve wildlife and involve people. Wildwood Trust has a membership of over 39,000 and an active volunteer base of over 30.

An independent charity, Wildwood Trust was formed in March 2002 with the aim of bringing the joy of wildlife to everyone through practical nature conservation and inspirational education. Wildwood Trust can trace its roots back to when one of its founders started a nature reserve for people to visit in 1978 and then from that developed a British wildlife park at Wildwood ’s main site. The park was attached to a woodland industry site dating back many hundreds of years and has been historically linked to the management of the surrounding Blean Woods complex, England's largest ancient woodland.

The aims of Wildwood Trust are twofold. We work to protect British wildlife and wild places for current and future generations and we aim to provide the means by which everyone can enjoy and understand the wildlife we seek to protect. The only way we can achieve this is to work in partnership with a diverse range of stakeholders including local authorities, landowners, statutory agencies and the business community.

Front row left to right – Medium Boar (Wildwood Badger), Lisa Wiffen (Trustee), Bob Salter (Trustee), Terry Stanford (Wildwood Founder), Big Boar (Wildwood Badger)

Back row – Peter Smith (Wildwood Chief Executive)