This is not, however, something that has been achieved in the last few years, but rather represents a lifetime’s effort in repair and re-newel. In the twenty years following 1983, we recreated 18 hectares of wildflower meadow and restored six derelict ponds. 5.5km of conservation headlands and 2 kilometres of hedgerow were planted or restored including 300m which were 'laid' as part of a regional hedge laying competition in the winters of 1998 and 2000; initiated in February 2024, we are hosting an ongoing programme of hedge-laying instruction co-ordinated by Kent Wildlife Trust. These plantings and restorations were enriched with small ‘shaves’ of indigenous woodland; we are currently working with Kent County Council in an attempt to re-introduce Dutch Elm Disease-free Elms to suitable sites on the farm. 

This original and ongoing work has restored or created the network of wildlife corridors across the farm which are a haven for beneficial insects around the production areas. In spring 2000, we installed three artificial otter holts along our section of the river Lesser Teise also in conjunction with Kent Wildlife Trust, and, although rare and elusive, otters have subsequently been sighted on this stretch of river. 

Since 2005 The Company has worked closely with the RSPB, initially as a partner in the Volunteer and Farmer Alliance and latterly, given that Marden is a real hot spot for this iconic and critically endangered species, as part of Operation Turtledove. 

In the early years as we tried to find our feet in melding profitable food production with environmental stewardship, we hosted Countryside Stewardship projects involving the provision of winter bird food strips; this was allied to the installation of colonies of nest boxes in an attempt to boost Tree Sparrow numbers. During the winter of 2007/08, large areas of these seed strips comprising such high feed value plants as sunflower, millet, sorghum, quinoa and fodder radish (a favourite of Tree Sparrows) were planted and flocks of finches and migratory Bramblings well in excess of 200 individuals were in continuous occupation until late February 2008. As a result, an MSc project was hosted during winter 2008/09 to establish the optimum hedge height and density favoured by these feeding birds to enable future winter food plantings to be of maximum benefit. Whilst the raw data indicated a preference for boundaries comprising higher hedges and trees, over the course of the project this was statistically inconclusive. 

Winter feed plantings continue as do observations; the indications are that over the course of the year, there are over 70 bird species present on the farm. 2009 saw the start of a regular ringing programme; birds are trapped, and their sex, age, weight and body condition assessed. They are then fitted with a tiny unique ring for future identification. This provides information about the birds using our farm and contributes to the work of scientists at the British Trust for Ornithology who conduct research, amongst much else, into how bird populations change. Over the last fifteen years, as of spring 2024, more than four thousand seven hundred individual birds have been ringed and recorded on the farm by volunteers led by local birder Ray Morris and there have been innumerable point and transect recorded sightings.

Since 2020, the monitoring and recording of both birds and many other phyla has been more formally adopted by members of the local award-winning citizen science group, Marden Wildlife. In 2021, DEFRA funded a Marden Wildlife project using coloured leg rings to monitor and record the intra-farm movement of the local Yellowhammer population as individuals moved between sown blocks of winter bird seed on our and four other neighbouring farms. KWT is also funding a Turtledove radio-tracking project partnering members of The Marden Farmer Cluster with Kent Wildlife Trust and Marden Wildlife which is ongoing. 

As a result of the volunteer's tireless endeavour, we can confidently say that all expected species are visiting, resident or breeding in significant numbers on the farm and all red list species have been recorded at least once since 2007.

Since 2010, we have installed over eighty nest boxes on the farm both under our own initiative and guided by The Hawk and Owl Trust. 11 Barn Owl, 2 Little Owl, 2 Kestrel, 41 House Martin, 7 Swift,10 Tree Sparrow, 6 Tit, 1 Woodpecker and 10 Dormouse boxes are in-situ, most of which have been used by the target species although we have had Stock Doves, Mandarin Ducks, squirrels and hornets take up residence. It is not uncommon to see well over one hundred individual House Martins fledged from the 17 artificial and handful of natural nests under the eaves of our Oast house gathered on the roof warming themselves in the autumn sunshine prior to their winter migration south.

There have been a number of standalone projects undertaken here, probably the most spectacular of which is a 2-hectare flood mitigation lake, or wetland, created in 2016 in partnership with Kent County Council (KCC) Highways. A four-hectare field was identified as suitable for the creation of the structure which was surveyed and built by KCC whilst being hosted by ourselves. This feature not only has the capacity to hold more than twenty thousand cubic metres of flood water, but its design allows it to act as a settlement pond to ensure that by the time the sediment laden flood water reaches the SSSI river Beult, it is gin clear. Unsurprisingly, a water body on this scale is also a magnet for wildlife.

Over the years, significant amounts of data have been captured on the farm. In late summer 2016, Sue Buckingham, of the Kent Botanical Recording Group, carried out a walk-over plant survey of our newly acquired Mill Farm; this has subsequently been supplemented by farming neighbour Lou Carpenter who is tackling the botanical re-colonisation of the newly created wetland. Lou also continues to track the success of other meadow enrichment projects on the farm, particularly the use of green hay from the Kent Wildlife Trust owned Marden Meadow to re-introduce historically common, but now exceedingly rare flora to our largely monocultural grassland. The small fields and widely diverse habitat are also host to innumerable insects. Since 2017, Sam Crocker, our local Odonata whizz, has been spotting and recording Dragonflies and Damselflies along the river Teise and associated ponds, ditches and waterways at Mill Farm; in the summer of 2020, the 2018 winner of The Royal Entomological Society Award for Insect Conservation, Mike Edwards, trapped and identified over 275 species, some exceedingly uncommon, of insects also at Mill Farm. The Marden Wildlife Group has access to the most extraordinary collection of amateur experts amongst its members including David Newman. David has, over the last five years, surveyed the fungi across The Marden Cluster Farms; he has so far identified over 300 different species, 73 of which appear on our own farm.

The farm is now wholly committed to both Higher and Mid-Tier environmental schemes funded by DEFRA and created and monitored in close collaboration with our excellent local Natural England team. By building the food pyramid from the very base over a period of time, we are seeing the real benefits of this fully joined up approach. Plantings of flower rich, tussocky field margins allied to almost total removal of synthetic chemical fertilisers and crop protection products has provided the perfect habitat for a plethora of insects. For the first time in possibly fifty years, we have, in summer 2024, a pair of Lapwings who have overwintered and then nested on the farm. Although we believe their first clutch to have been predated, it looks as though they have successfully fledged three chicks from the second. This heart-warming success has encouraged us to look seriously at designing a project to re-introduce the once plentiful Grey English Partridge; this is currently underway. The wild margins have delivered the added bonus of creating the ideal conditions for small mammals, the increased numbers of which have led to a significant boost in the populations of predatory birds. The presence of Kestrels and Sparrowhawks, Peregrine and Hobby all indicate a vibrant and plentiful food chain. Barn Owls, Little Owls, Tawny Owls, and even a pair of Long-Eared Owls are all to be found on the farm in numbers and a pair of common buzzards nested in woodland on the farm during the summer of 2008; these birds are now a common site wheeling overhead in groups of up to five at a time, as are visiting pairs of Red Kites and Ravens.

  Five Generations – 

Working for wildlife for more than a century.