The Truth about Rewilding, by Seven of Britain’s Most Influential Farmers, Landowners and Conservationists

{The truth about rewilding – Earth and Leaf editorial}

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The truth about rewilding, by seven of Britain’s most influential farmers, landowners and conservationists

The truth about rewilding. Although the term ‘rewilding’ is contentious, most agree that our countryside could be better managed for wildlife. Yet what should we actually be doing to improve it?

‘The idea that we can carry on what we’ve been doing for the past couple of centuries, which is the war against Nature, is over,’ declares Prof Sir Dieter Helm, professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford, who believes that the damage wreaked can be reversed if we all play a part in the rejuvenation of the natural world.

‘The idea that we can carry on what we’ve been doing for the past couple of centuries, which is the war against Nature, is over,’ declares Prof Sir Dieter Helm, professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford, who believes that the damage wreaked can be reversed if we all play a part in the rejuvenation of the natural world.

Taking issue with the term ‘wilding’, however, he states: ‘Going back to the wild, or just going wild, suggests that there’s a separation between us and Nature, but we’re a part of it and nothing in Nature is now non-human, and so I prefer the old-fashioned idea of conservation management.

The Truth about Rewilding

‘If everyone did No Mow May, allowed wildflowers to grow and got rid of pesticides on their own patches,’ he adds, ‘that would increase the habitat for insects and invertebrates, which is crucial for the biodiversity web, and it would make a huge difference. These small efforts are so important, yet they are active conservation management, not abandonment. Let’s all have a national effort to do something positive to take things forward.’

However, there are hurdles, says Prof Helm, not least our general lack of mindfulness: ‘A population with preoccupations doesn’t see any consequence if there are no swallows, for example, and if such things disappear.’

Isabella Tree, who oversees rewilding at Knepp Castle in West Sussex, is of the opinion that it is the size of the looming natural apocalypse that can make it appear insurmountable. ‘Sometimes, the dread and the doom of facing [this] is: what can one individual do? But you can make a difference.’

Today’s link to our pages or posts . . .

Time to Take Action on Nature Decline

Have a look at what is happening at Knepp Estate https://knepp.co.uk/knepp-estate/

The seven telling The Truth about Rewilding are:

Prof Sir Dieter Helm, Nick Zoll, Jamie Blackett, Hallam Mills, Charles Mann, Isabella Tree, Tom Orde-Powlett