The north Kent marshland extends from Whitstable to Gravesend

The marshes are in the Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme (ESA) and are important for various bird types.

Grants enable landowners, including the RSPB, to restore marshlands and encourage wildlife to use the area.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is responsible for setting up the ESA scheme.

The vast majority of agreement holders are farmers, and in many cases their families have farmed this land for generations Dave Shenton, Defra

Philip Merricks, who owns and manages the marshes' Elmley estate said: "The North Kent marshes ESA is really delivering spectacular wildlife gain.

"The charismatic landscape and wildlife of these marshes can only be safeguarded and enhanced in the long term through sensible farming systems."

Dave Shenton, from Defra, said: "ESA agreement holders play a vital role in helping to maintain and enhance this habitat for internationally important numbers of wildlife.

"The vast majority of agreement holders are farmers, and in many cases their families have farmed this land for generations."

The North Kent Marshes ESA forms an almost continuous coastal marshland fringe extending from Whitstable in the east to Gravesend in the west, including the Medway Estuary and the Isle of Sheppey.