Baby beaver in the water at Ham Fen
© Terry Whittaker
Research & Development
East Kent - Kent Wildlife Trust

Mercer's Farm

Kent Wildlife Trust recently acquired an area of relic fen bordering its Ham Fen Nature Reserve. This extension to the fen is being re-wetted using a combination of natural ecosystem engineers - beaver and water buffalo. We need investment to develop our monitoring and remote sensing capability on this site – enabling the most accurate monitoring of the carbon storage increase on the site and the wildlife it supports.

Cost

Funded

Hectares

tCO2e

(Over 50 years)

Beaver dam at Ham Fen

Project Vision

Wantsum Wetlands Nature Recovery Network

Mercers Farm is an extension to the existing Kent Wildlife Trust nature reserve at Ham Fen, near Sandwich in East Kent. This is a relic lowland fen, the remaining undrained area of the Hacklinge Marshes. Ham Fen was the first site in the UK to use the reintroduction of beaver in order to re-wet and restore the fenland. Their presence on site over 20 years has transformed the fen for wildlife and seen a dramatic increase in carbon sequestered by it.

The extension to the Ham Fen reserve provides an immediate investment opportunity to support research to compare carbon sequestration values on both sides areas of the reserve and the impact of beaver in supporting this.

Beaver at Ham Fen
© Terry Whittaker

The Aim

Research & Development

Kent Wildlife Trust are working in collaboration with Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Christchurch College Canterbury University to build and install a number of peat motion sensors, greenhouse gas (GHG) flux chambers/sensors and automated floating chambers for deployment in streams/ponds to measure terrestrial and aquatic GHG fluxes. 

We area also linking in with other partners and universities to study the influence of beavers on the sites carbon balance through measurements across both the Ham Fen and Mercers Farm sites. 

This research is a vital opportunity to better understand the carbon sequestration values of lowland peat habitat as it is progressively re-wetted. 

Lower Stour and Wantsum Channel Pathfinder Project Map

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  • Evan Bowen-Jones
    Evan Bowen Jones
    Managing Director
  • Paul Hadaway
    Paul Hadaway
    Head of Implementation
  • Sarah Brownlie
    Sarah Brownlie
    Project Manager
  • Dan Wynn
    Dan Wynn
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    Ross Johnson
    NBS Manager
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    Robbie Still
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