Rewilding: The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery: 14 (Hot Science)

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In short, stop over-managing for the sake of single species and instead interfere as little as possible. And because I've read most of those books before, and learned enough about some of these issues to at least be aware of the nuance she is glossing over, it's often frustrating and always boring. Isabella Tree is an award-winning author and journalist and lives with her husband, the conservationist Charlie Burrell, in the middle of the rewilding project at Knepp. That hopeful and demonstrably true observation lies behind the urgent optimism of this wonderful book. Forced from intensive farming, Isabella Tree and her husband give their 3,500 acres at Knepp Estate back to nature.

Most surprising is the increase in the variety and abundance of birds including nightingales and turtle doves whose dwindling numbers have made them endangered. Wilding (2018) is Isabella Tree's account of how the Knepp estate in West Sussex changed from being a farm to a more natural environment.The authors take a bird’s eye view, providing overviews of our planet’s dewilding (beginning with the extinctions detailed in The Missing Lynx), the history of rewilding, how it compares to conservation and ecological restoration, and where rewilding is likely heading in the coming years. Successive chapters joyfully recount the mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, fungi, and plants that sprung up once given the chance. The way this book is structured is very helpful for rewilding novices, with confusing jargon demystified and competing theories explained. Packed with facts from the experts she meets on her travels, we learn alot about the underdog species that have missed our attention.

Emergent– I’ve been slowly reviewing this for a while now and have enjoyed its holistic approach to the idea of rewilding. Intervention is kept to a minimum and species start to flourish like never before, with plentiful habitats and safe spaces to breed. I don’t think anyone has described the fragmentation of nature in the modern world as brilliantly as Quammen. Which, in our case, has been simply astonishing – nightingales, turtle doves, purple emperor butterflies, peregrine falcons (nesting in a tree! But it's also heartening to have seen the proof that it can work with my own eyes, and to know that at least some are willing to take this leap of faith.So I think wilding – or ‘ rewilding’ – is essentially about trying to recreate dynamism in a landscape, and you can do that to varying degrees, depending on where you are in the world, and how much land is involved. He genuinely felt that nature is the greatest teacher of all – and that’s a lesson, I feel, that we all do well to follow.

The species that we used to regularly see and hear are no longer around; when did you last hear a cuckoo? Moreover, I was interested by the unusual perspective - unfashionable in egalitarian times - on the relationship between the 'landed gentry' and the land they own.It proposes that the situation facing our planet in environmental terms is so dire it can only be solved by dedicating half the earth’s surface to nature. This book and the 20 years the Knepp estate has been allowed to find its own way shows there is no need to do anything other than have the guts to let nature take over and change our business practices accordingly. Much like the rotational farming systems of old, only more extensive and on a much longer time-scale. The author takes you on ajourney to meet the incredible people behind these projects, many of which have come to fruition against all odds. In this book, we see how challenges can be overcome by sharing knowledge and finding balance between respecting traditions and restoring natural processes.