The official launch event for a Bison Mural celebrating the introduction of European Bison into Blean Woods in the summer of 2022 (part of the Wilder Blean Project), took place at the Canterbury campus on Friday 1 July. The event was organised by the Canterbury Biodiversity Network Steering Group and Emily Mason from the University of Kent Sustainability team.
The Bison Mural was painted by artist ATMstreetart throughout the week before the official unveiling event on Friday. The Wilder Blean Project is a ground-breaking initiative by Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust which aims to restore biodiversity to the Blean Woods with Bison acting as ecosystem engineers. The Bison Mural marks the start of a wider wildlife art project across Canterbury currently in development.
The unveiling event took place at the Gulbenkian, with speakers from the University, Kent Wildlife Trust, the Wildwood Trust and the Canterbury Society explaining more about the project.
Catherine Morris, Sustainability Manager at Kent, said: ‘We are delighted with the beautiful mural depicting a Bison in the woods, which represents the Wilder Blean project. We’d like to thank the talented ATMstreetart for painting the mural, all the partners and funders who made this happen and everyone who came along to the official launch.’
ATMstreetart with his blank canvas
The bison mural in progress
The completed Bison Mural
