BIG Biodiversity Challenge Award Winners - Innovation Category

Exciting news! Our bison, incredible ecosystem engineers, have earned us the prestigious BIG Biodiversity Challenge Innovation Award!

Kent Wildlife Trust & Wildwood Trust stood tall amongst an incredible selection of finalists for this year's challenge, with more than 60 entries across 10 awards categories.

The awards ceremony was held at the world famous  Kew Royal Botanic Gardens and we’re thrilled to announce that The Wilder Blean Project emerged victorious as the winner of the Innovation Award.

The judges commended the project by commenting:

“We were impressed by the boldness of the project to enhance existing conifer woodland by using the power of nature and ecosystem engineers, aka European bison, to deliver landscape-scale and long-term enhancement in woodland management. This approach avoids using heavy machinery and thousands of man hours by tapping into a nature-based solution. The judges particularly liked the project's focus on making this method replicable, by identifying ways to simplify the process for future projects.”

Now in its tenth year, the BIG Biodiversity Challenge is the leading industry initiative for raising awareness of and delivering biodiversity within construction and the built environment. We’re delighted to see ecosystem engineers like bison being recognised at the forefront of construction innovation as a pioneering Nature-based Solution to restore woodland ecosystems and boost biodiversity.

We’re over the moon that The Wilder Blean Project continues to gain recognition and that this multi-award winning project can pave the way for future projects and ambitions.

This is another huge collaborative achievement for the project, and we want to celebrate all of our supporters for making this possible. Here’s to the bison herd, the wilding innovators and the wild at heart. Thank you to the joint communities of both charities for your continued support on this wild journey.

How can I help?

You can support the growing herd by donating to Wildwood Trust. By supporting Wildwood, you can help bring back native species and restore truly wild spaces – because if nature thrives, we do too!

DONATE HERE