Species Spotlights
Use tags and search to sort and explore the key species shaping Knepp’s landscape. Learn more about their behaviour, life cycle, and the unique roles they are playing within the project.
October 13, 2025
Downland Villa Beefly
A scarce bee-fly of open, sunlit habitats, the Downland Villa is a striking and elusive species whose presence at Knepp reflects the value of bare ground and natural disturbance in supporting rare invertebrates.
October 13, 2025
White Stork
The White Stork Project, launched in 2016, showcases the potential for restoring lost species, enthusing and inspiring others and helping to bring about the landscape restoration we so desperately need.
October 10, 2025
Pedunculate Oak
The English Oak is Britain’s most iconic tree, supporting more wildlife than any other species and shaping landscapes for centuries. It’s a true keystone species here at Knepp.
October 10, 2025
Purple Hairstreak
The Purple Hairstreak is a canopy-dwelling butterfly of oak woodlands, thriving at Knepp where mature oaks are interspersed into the wood pasture landscape, providing the necessary requirements to complete its lifecycle.
October 10, 2025
Water-violet
A delicate aquatic plant of still or slow-moving waters, Water Violet is a quiet indicator of healthy wetland systems, thriving where natural hydrology and vegetation dynamics are allowed to recover.
October 13, 2025
Downland Villa Beefly
A scarce bee-fly of open, sunlit habitats, the Downland Villa is a striking and elusive species whose presence at Knepp reflects the value of bare ground and natural disturbance in supporting rare invertebrates.
October 13, 2025
White Stork
The White Stork Project, launched in 2016, showcases the potential for restoring lost species, enthusing and inspiring others and helping to bring about the landscape restoration we so desperately need.
October 10, 2025
Pedunculate Oak
The English Oak is Britain’s most iconic tree, supporting more wildlife than any other species and shaping landscapes for centuries. It’s a true keystone species here at Knepp.
October 10, 2025
Purple Hairstreak
The Purple Hairstreak is a canopy-dwelling butterfly of oak woodlands, thriving at Knepp where mature oaks are interspersed into the wood pasture landscape, providing the necessary requirements to complete its lifecycle.
October 10, 2025
Water-violet
A delicate aquatic plant of still or slow-moving waters, Water Violet is a quiet indicator of healthy wetland systems, thriving where natural hydrology and vegetation dynamics are allowed to recover.
October 10, 2025
Common Ragwort
Common Ragwort is a resilient wildflower of grasslands and disturbed ground, vital for pollinators and specialist insects like the Cinnabar moth Tyria jacobaeae, making it far more valuable than its reputation as an “injurious weed”
October 9, 2025
Common Cuckoo
One of Britain’s most iconic migrants, famed for its unmistakable call and extraordinary brood-parasitic lifestyle, the Common Cuckoo was once widespread but is now in decline.
October 8, 2025
Nightingale
In just 20 years Nightingale territories at Knepp have increased by 5000% and the Estate now holds roughly 1% of the UK population. The abundance of scrub and wood-pasture habitat has created the ideal conditions for this species to thrive.
October 8, 2025
Turtle Dove
First recorded at Knepp in 2007, this Red-Listed species is thriving at Knepp due to the abundance of dense scrub and seed availability from pig rooting.
October 8, 2025
Eurasian Beaver
The Eurasian Beaver is a keystone species whose dam-building and foraging activities transform waterways, creating wetlands that support a rich diversity of plants and wildlife.
October 8, 2025
Purple Emperor
First recorded at Knepp by expert and naturalist Matthew Oates in 2010, the Purple Emperor has become a symbol of rewilding success and natural species recovery.
October 8, 2025
Southern Migrant Hawker
The Southern Migrant Hawker is a large, agile dragonfly that has recently colonised Britain, thriving at Knepp’s ponds and wetlands where it finds perfect breeding and hunting habitat.