Another way you can take action is by supporting the rewilding projects that are big news in the world of conservation. While we cannot meaningfully take on such projects at home beyond rewilding our own lawns (put the lawn mower away!), those qualified organisations that do have the space and the know-how are not only helping the world to breathe a little easier, but also to restore some of the eco-systems that have long suffered due to loss of habitat.
In time for #LoveATreeDay, we take a look at a few of the projects across the British Isles that are giving us all hope.
Knepp Estate, West Sussex
By the time it became clear that something had to be done, Knepp had been in Charlie Burrell’s family for years; he inherited the estate in 1982 and then spent the ensuing 17 years attempting to make it profitable. But, as the project’s website explains, the land was simply not conducive to the intensive farming methods that it was being used for. Unable to compete with the industrialised farms, the debts had mounted up alarmingly and a crisis point was reached.
Consisting of ‘320 metres of heavy Low Weald clay over a bedrock of limestone, the soil is like concrete in summer and unfathomable porridge in winter,’ they explain. After fighting tirelessly, in the year 2000, Charlie decided to sell the dairy herds and farm machinery and to put the arable out to contract. The true turning point, however, came the following year, after they received a Countryside Stewardship funding to restore the Repton park that lies in the middle of the estate.
A trailblazer for what has now become known as ‘rewilding’, Charlie and his wife, the appositely named Isabella Tree (award-winning author of Wilding), had a vision that, after years of intense human intervention, the land should be given back to nature. Dairy cows were replaced with Old English Longhorn cattle, Exmoor ponies, Tamworth pigs and deer, all of whom graze upon the land and enable plant life to thrive. Today, Knepp is a leading light in the world of conservation. With marshland and river restoration also central to the project, the approach is holistic and utterly inspiring. Do go for a visit to see for yourself; you can even stay onsite if you wish to immerse yourself fully. Discover more here.
Carrifran Wildwood, Dumfries And Galloway
An ice-carved valley in the Moffat Hills, The Wildwood Project has been a very personal labour of love for a group of friends who were so passionate about restoring trees native to the area that they bought the glen in 2000 and have since planted some 600,000 trees. The aim is to, eventually, write humans out of the story completely and allow nature to take over, restore lost ecosystems and end up with a landscape indistinguishable from how it would have appeared 6,000 years ago. The organisation behind the work is Borders Forest Trust, which also has two other sites, its mission to make southern Scotland ‘a place where a rich tapestry of native woodlands and wild places flourish’. Their motto? Where one tree survives, a million will grow’. Perfectly said. Discover more here.
Alladale Wilderness Reserve
Lying just north of Inverness, Alladale’s founder – Paul Lister – got some absurd press when he began the rewilding project that now stretches across 23,000 acres of rolling glen. Overexcited newspapers published headlines that he – as the heir to the MFI furniture fortune – was a dotty millionaire fixated on creating his own Jurassic Park-style project. Their reasoning was that, since Lister had made public his hope to reintroduce the wolves that once roamed these lands, he was an eccentric to be ridiculed.
In fact, his rewilding concept was simply ahead of its time. The idea was not to bring back wild creatures for the sake of doing so, but to restore some of the lost eco systems native to this land; for where once the Caledonian Forest covered vast swathes of land, there is now just one per cent of it left. As they say, ‘The ancient forests of Scotland have been shrinking for the last 4,000 years. First a cooler and wetter climate, then the axe, fire and livestock reduced natural forests to remnants scattered across the landscape. Restoring woodland is central to the vision for Alladale Wilderness Reserve. Trees provide the foundation for everything – humus to enrich the soil, and a home for the fungi, plants and insects that are the building blocks of a healthy ecosystem.’
Between 2009 and 2012, Alladale planted just shy of a million trees. It continues to work with and educate children in the local community. It has reintroduced the red squirrel, which now thrives on its land. And it has been instrumental in work to save the Scottish Wildcat. Want to know more? You can go and stay in this remote and beautiful landscape at one of its beautiful lodges. Discover more here.
Dingle Marshes, Suffolk
Suffolk’s Dingle Marshes are home to the largest freshwater reedbed in the UK. Across 229 acres, it offers a ‘mixture of coastal and freshwater habitats, moody heathland and atmospheric forest.’ The reedbeds support a huge diversity of bird life, and its habitat is home to a significant proportion of the UK’s bittern and marsh harrier populations. Under the auspices of Suffolk Wildlife Trust, RSPB and Natural England, it is situated close to Dunwich and, as such, its shingle banks have been breached many times; the acceptance is that this will continue to happen until, little by little, this natural habitat shifts once more to support sea life rather than that of the land. Discover more here.
Wild Nephin, North County Mayo
Wild Nephin is Ireland’s first consciously created wilderness, with 8,000 hectares having been designated for restoration as forestland and national parkland in the Nephin Beg Mountains. The idea is to enhance biodiversity and sustain the earth’s natural resources across one of the largest expanses of peatland in Europe. Established as Ballycroy National Park in 1998, later in 2018, new plans were put into place to rewild additional lands acquired at Nephin Forest to the east of the Nephin Beg Mountains. Ambitious, necessary and inspiring. Discover more here.
Wild Ennerdale, Cumbria
A partnership between people and organisations led by the National Trust, Forestry England and United Utilities, Wild Ennerdale is one of the longest running ecosystem, partnerships and a nature lover’s dream, teeming as it is with red squirrel, wood warblers, skylarks and England’s largest population of marsh fritillary butterflies. Discover more here.
River Otter, Devon
Beavers were reintroduced into the UK in 2009 after a 500-year absence. The decision to restore them to their former habitat – in this case on the River Otter in Devon – was taken on the basis that they are a ‘keystone species’, and thus have a positive impact on the environment – both in terms of improving water quality and biodiversity. They have since been spotted in other locations – which is just as well since, in 2020, the UK government announced that the beavers can stay.
As the Devon Wildlife Trust explains, ‘It was the first legally sanctioned reintroduction of an extinct native mammal to England. It means that the beaver population, which lives on the River Otter and is estimated to consist of up to fifteen family groups, now has a secure future. Our work to keep beavers in the wild will continue and we will monitor their activities to ensure that they continue to live happily alongside the local community.’ Discover more here.
By Nancy Alsop
May 2023
