Local Wildlife Sites Officer

Kent Wildlife Trust is the county’s leading conservation charity with more than 31,000 members and over 1000 registered volunteers. We manage and protect over 9000 acres of land across more than 90 different sites and nature reserves, alongside 3 visitor centres.

But we can’t save nature alone. So, we work closely with local communities, businesses, organisations and individuals to protect and restore wildlife and wild spaces and create a wilder Kent for the benefit of people and the planet.

The opportunity/responsibilities:

As Kent Wildlife Trust strives to deliver a Wilder Kent, landscape-scale conservation is increasingly important to ensure bigger, better and more joined up biodiverse areas, to increase the resilience, functioning and services of ecosystems across Kent. This is an exciting time for the Trust as it surges ahead with ambitious projects to deliver nature’s recovery, including an ever-growing portfolio of nature-based solutions projects featuring wilding, landscape-scale conservation, catchment resilience and carbon sequestration.

Local Wildlife Sites are non-statutory sites, that together provide an exhaustive list of areas in Kent with important biological communities, outside of statutory designations such as SSSIs and NNRs. Whilst they are acknowledged in planning and development decisions, LWS landowners are free to manage their land as they wish. Therefore, liaising with LWS landowners and working closely with other conservation and engagement teams to encourage positive management actions across the network is crucially important for the long-term conservation of Local Wildlife Sites.

The Local Wildlife Sites Officer will work within the Monitoring and Evidence (M&E) team. They will take the lead to administer Kent’s Local Wildlife Site (LWS) system, with key roles including delivering a rolling program of site surveys, developing a LWS strategy, identifying new candidate LWSs, updating site schedules and GIS boundary data, maintaining landowner contact details, liaising with local planning authorities, presenting LWS amendments in consultations, visiting sites and providing management advice to landowners, and overseeing the Richard Neame Award and LWS landowner newsletter.

This role requires an ambitious individual, with a high level of initiative, a good understanding of UK ecology and conservation, and a passion for working with landowners towards conservation outcomes. Basic GIS and analytical skills are also essential. You will be at the cutting edge of nature conservation work in the UK, positioned to develop your experience and knowledge and to build a professional reputation. In doing so, you will have the support of Kent Wildlife Trust’s commitment to the professional development of its staff.

You: This post would suit an individual with strong interpersonal and organizational skills and experience in one or more of ecology, engagement or GIS, looking to further their conservation project management experience in the UK.

We are unable to recruit anyone who does not have a right to work in the UK.

Procedure for applicants:

Applicants should read the Guidance Notes carefully before completing the online application form supported by a personal statement and CV.

Successful candidates will be invited to a face to face interview at Tyland Barn, Maidstone on Monday 22nd or Tuesday 23rd July 2024.

The Kent Wildlife Trust Group is Wild About Inclusion. To us, this means inspiring, empowering and engaging people from all backgrounds, cultures, identities and abilities, to change the natural world for the better. It also means cultivating inclusive workspaces that are free from discrimination, where differences are celebrated, everyone can be themselves and flourish, just like nature!

REF-214 870