Living in harmony

Above: Bill Jones

Above: Bill Jones

On the surface the very idea seems incongruous, presenting an image of uneasy bedfellows. A nature reserve adjoining a power station, Mother Nature pitched against mankind in a clash of cultures with neither one reconciled to the other’s presence.
The reality on the Hoo Peninsula, however, is markedly different. The coal-fired Kingsnorth Power Station has made preserving wildlife as much a part of its duties as providing light and warmth for the millions of homes it serves.
For more than 30 years, Bill Jones has been at the heart of growing and developing the reserve, sharing his wealth of knowledge and making sure that plant life and power plant life exist in perfect harmony.
Bill is a passionate man - you only have to spend a short while in his company to realise that while running the Kingsnorth Nature Reserve may be his job, his commitment and enthusiasm far outreaches the confines of nine to five.
His official title, Environmental Initiatives Officer, somehow fails to do justice to his work. Bill is a carer, nurturer, recorder, preserver, conserver and walking encyclopedia of everything that makes its home at Kingsnorth.

We live in a throwaway society, and I believe in a bit of rustic recycling

At the last count, 200 varieties of birds and 75 types of fish, as well as seals, crabs and foxes live next to the power station at some point or other during the year. With acres of marsh and grassland, this is a vast natural habitat crammed with species of all shapes and sizes. Building riverbanks, freshwater ponds, reed beds, nature trails, creating hides and recording the flora and fauna are just some of the activities Bill undertakes on a daily basis.
It was less than five minutes into my tour of the nature reserve when a breathless worker, complete with high-visibility jacket and hard hat, excitedly flagged us down. He wanted to pick Bill’s brains over an unusual bird he had seen earlier that morning; this type of enquiry is not unusual, as a large part of Bill’s job is to act as an informer, imparting his own knowledge to the many hundreds of visitors who come to the nature reserve each year.

Estuary and marshes
And it’s a diverse bunch that make their way to Kingsnorth, up to 2,000 people every year - from primary schoolchildren through to A-level students, Scouts to ornithologists from across the globe, Bill greets them all and shows off the wonders off the estuary and marshes.
“Did you know that, outside the rainforest, an estuary contains the most dense population of creatures? It’s estimated that nearly 100,000 different specimens will live in a square metre of mud,” he says, conversationally, while fishing out a shore crab from one of the many pools.

The best way for children to learn is to get their hands dirty

Bill’s knowledge means he is an engaging authority but it is his practical work that makes him such a hit with the school parties that visit. Youngsters get their hands on eels, crabs, prawns, grass snakes, slow worms and any other flora and fauna the 53-year-old can find to show them. His method of teaching is based on his own youth where he fanned the flames of his passion for nature by foraging on Salisbury Plain.
He explains: “The best way for children to learn is to get their hands dirty. They need to see these creatures and we need to educate the next generation. There are not many places like this where children can come and learn. With so much building and concreting in the South East, where is the chance for kids to come and learn about nature?”
Tree-felling and log cabin building are some of the more recent projects Bill has undertaken with Scout groups who have camped at the reserve.
“We live in a throw-away society and I believe in a bit of rustic recycling. Where else can children come and build cabins like I used to in my younger days? Some children have never even climbed a tree,” he exclaims.
Bill runs his lessons from two converted cottages which he has developed himself. Currently being refurbished thanks to a £20,000 makeover, the cottages are a compact but fully functional study centre.

Cleaner coal
The Kingsnorth site, which is owned by E.ON UK, could be changing in the near future. The company is hoping to get planning permission to replace the existing coal-fired units with two state-of-the-art ’cleaner coal’ units. If given the go-ahead, this will spell the end of the current plant but the new units, which are cleaner and more efficient, will mean new jobs, investment and a secure future for the nature reserve.
“If the new plant goes ahead, then this reserve will be preserved for another 30 years at least. I won’t be around then but the children of the future will still have a fantastic resource to learn from,” said Bill.Bill’s zeal for his work is infectious, he talks enthusiastically of rare bearded seals, seahorses and specimens he has donated to the Natural History Museum. His stories are neither boastful nor for effect, but are meant to educate, sharing the passion he has developed over a lifetime. Devoted characters such as Bill Jones are, increasingly, a dying breed but, thanks to his tireless work, many of the species in this marshy part of Kent are not.

Words by Jez Durrant