AN INTERNATIONALLY renowned woodland area where Caesar first fought on British soil has won £2.3million in Lottery money.

Kent Wildlife Trust has been granted the cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund for The Blean, near Canterbury, and will use it to boost the number of native plants and animals.

The trust manages 2,600 acres of the historic area and will fund changes to the habitat of up to 80 per cent of its land not currently friendly to wildlife due to foreign tree species such as sweet chestnut coppice and conifer.

Its four-year programme will also include improving visitor access through information boards, literature and education links in the community.

One landmark in the area is the Iron Age Hill Fort, believed to have been Caesar’s first battle site in Britain.

A notable success for The Blean – a Special Area of Conservation – was the return of the rare heath fritillary butterfly which had been close to extinction.

The trust’s annual management of coppice since 1987 has boosted numbers of butterflies, moths, dragonflies and birds such as the nightingale and warbler.

Access for visitors will be improved and money will also pay for information boards and education events.

The trust has appointed a Blean Conservation Complex project officer, Mike Enfield, a butterfly specialist with more than 35 years experience as a nature volunteer and Kent Wildlife Trust employee.