Five years ago, European nature lovers were puzzled by Britain’s debate over whether beavers should be allowed to return to the rivers. Today, hundreds, possibly thousands, of beavers are found free – and legal – throughout the country. Where an English landowner, the Knepp estate in Sussex, first followed the lonely path to abandon conventional free-range herbivore cultivation and allow more natural processes to develop, many landowners of all sizes are now following suit. The well-known debate over the value of the resurgence is still raging, but the British repetition seems to have avoided talk of reviving wolves and lynx to cross new borders. The ground of Rewilding is changing, most dramatically with the arrival of private funding and the new focus on providing benefits to people – as well as wildlife. Quick guide
Rewilding: what is it?
projection What is rewilling? Rewilding is the restoration of nature to places that have been altered by human activity. From the release of predatory tops such as jaguars and wolves to the creation of space for native grasslands in urban areas, re-flight can occur on a large or small scale. Although there are competing definitions, most are based on rebuilding sustainable ecological health, whether it is the return of algae forests off the coast of Sussex in England or the reintroduction of girls to the Galapagos Islands. Why has the term become so popular? Rewilding has captured the imagination of the public while being both an environmental movement and a science-based process. With visions of a wilder planet, high up–Profile environmentalists such as David Attenborough and George Monbiot have inspired millions of people with pathways to a more biodiversity, ecologically healthy future. The success of pioneers around the world has shown what is possible: from the restoration of Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique after the Civil War to the Knepp estate in the south of England. Does rewilling have universal support? No. Critics of the renewal fear that the term is being used to justify the removal of people from the landscape, especially farmers and indigenous communities. In the UK, some have dismissed the idea as a fad for “tof” and high-income landowners, while others fear it has been used to attack farming communities that have been cultivating land for hundreds of years. Can you rewild? While the boldest restoration initiatives take place on a landscape scale, small changes can have a big impact. Millions of people changing the way they mow their lawn or leave nature in their gardens, balconies and window sills can be added, providing more room for biodiversity recovery. Thank you for your response. Rebecca Wrigley, CEO of Rewilding Britain, a charity founded with the support of George Monbiot in 2015 after his book, Feral, galvanized British rewilding, recently attended a House of Lords dinner for nature-based solutions in legally binding net of the country zero and nature recovery goals, along with asset managers and investment funds. Suddenly, a lot of money wants to be invested in renovating previously useless land that is now considered valuable in an age of carbon credits and laws that require new developments to bring about “net biodiversity gain” and ensure that no extra nutrients are added to certain rivers. English river basins. The Knepp estate in Sussex, one of the first adopters of rewilding. Photo: Anthony Cullen / The Guardian “In some ways it’s like the Wild West,” says Wrigley. “There are very few money brokers interested in investing in biodiversity and coal, and the providers of this land. “How do fruit and vegetable owners know which coal projects are legal or whether these funds are backed by fossil fuels or palm oil estates?” Rewilding Britain wants to provide advice to landowners who are part of the “peer learning” restoration network, while other systems such as Gold Standard are developing certification systems for legal clearing. Link to the Wild world series This influx of money is “both an opportunity and a threat,” says Wrigley. “The right kind of funding for rewilding could be really positive, but we need to make sure it is done in a way that benefits local communities and economies. Yes, we want to see large-scale restoration of naturally functioning ecosystems and natural processes, but we also want to see communities play a real role in this. We see people as part of nature. “Otherwise, this is another huge corporate land grab.” These comments reveal another new frontier for British rewiilding – one that was much less visible five years ago: instead of talking about wolves and bears, today’s amateurs are rushing to emphasize people and prosperity. This could be dismissed as rhetoric if there was no new data on the ground. A study by Rewilding Britain on 32 projects in the UK found that they brought a 54% increase in jobs. In Scotland, for example, when Trees for Life bought Dundreggan, the former shooting range employed one person. This Highland restoration project now employs eight people, plus another 15 jobs when its training center opens. The Highland restoration project in Dundreggan employs eight people, and another 15 jobs will come when its training center opens. Photo: Rob Sutherland / Alamy “The rewilding argument for the benefit of the local community has not yet been won, to be honest,” said Steve Micklewright, CEO of Trees for Life and author of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance. “There is a very strong narrative that existing jobs are leaving and it is another liquidation in Highland. I would say that the Highlands have already been cleared and we have remaining work related to sports shooting estates. Success will be when children drop out of school and see many different financial opportunities for them through this landJenny Barlow, Langholm Initiative “But there are too many deer in the Highlands and, as we are not going to see wolves back in Scotland soon, we need more deer hunters, not less, if we are rewilding. [to enable natural regeneration of trees]. There is a lot more land management work to do before nature takes over. “Once that happens, regenerative businesses can grow.” Community-led rewilding is also underway, mainly in Langholm, a small town in southern Scotland, where the local Langholm Initiative has been trying to revitalize the former textile town since the 1990s, successfully assembling 3, Εκατο 8 million in just six months to buy 2,100 hectares (5,200 acres) of habitat and valley from the Buccleuch estate in 2021. The community has now received 1 1 million from the Scottish Land Fund, bringing them one step closer to achieving the goal. to raise 2 2.2 million by the end of July to buy another 2,140 hectares (5,300 acres). “It’s incredibly exciting,” says Jenny Barlow, Langholm Initiative real estate manager. “We are really optimistic that we will succeed, but it will be tense for a few weeks. “Apart from restoring the land to nature and climate, there will also be a really big benefit for the city and the people who live here,” says Barlow. He tends to talk about recovery, but says it has nothing to do with the word “rewilling”. “It’s just easier to explain that we are restoring the building blocks of nature to the landscape. “It’s very transparent and very clear what we are trying to do,” he said. A golden eagle in Scotland. A sparse forest at the top of the mountain is to be created near Loch Ness to reverse the loss of forest at high altitudes. Photo: Mark Hamblin / PA We are not talking about beavers or bison. The first step for Langholm is to develop a five-year plan with the community. The ecological idea is to restore the swamp, allow the recovery of the forest areas at the bottom of the valley and create a mosaic with animals that graze freely to help preserve parts of the open swamp for the local star species, the coop. “We are starting to have golden eagles visiting the valley and other species returning,” says Barlow. But the key is financial viability. “If we do not do it right, we can not get the rest,” he says. As restoration projects proliferate, not all can be sustained by glamping, but Langholm’s proximity to the Lake District should ensure successful ecotourism. “Local businesses are really excited to see an increase in people coming here, but we need to make sure it is sustainable, ethical and that people get paid well,” says Barlow. Langholm starts a community tree nursery, which looks at renewable energy sources as well as some commercial forestry. Sustainable carbon credits will also help. Most importantly, land is a benefit for outdoor education. “We take all the kids in the area out so they can grow up and say, ‘This is ours,’” Barlow said. “Success will be when these children drop out of school and see many different financial opportunities for them in this country.” We would love to give communities a place where they can grow food, we want forest gardens and partitions without digging Jan Stannard, Heal Rewilding Another way to connect people with similar projects is at the forefront of Heal Rewilding, a charity that offers the majority of the coast of England the opportunity to buy a share of revitalized land with a smart fundraising model based on people buying 3 square meters for 3 meters. These can be identified by the what3words application, so while donors cannot dig or sleep in their square, a drone can be programmed to hover over it and take a picture. Heal Rewilding has raised funds to buy two 160- to 240-hectare sites in the south of England. Its fold will follow the Knepp model and half of it will be publicly accessible with …
