“WE MUST REWILD THE WORLD” Sir David Attenborough
What is rewilding?
In scientific terms, rewilding is about large scale ecosystem restoration, that enables natural processes to once again fully function unhindered. It is where nature is fully back in control, without human interventions.
However rewilding has come to mean different things to different people, but at heart, it has one golden principle - the restoration, regeneration and protection of nature, and all who embark on such a journey to help this cause should be applauded.
From large scale ecosystem restoration with the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park, to allowing a wild patch to form in the smallest of gardens, all such actions indicate an evolution of consciousness - a recognition that we humans need to give back, allow the land and wildlife to recover, and so enable the whole community of life on Earth to thrive.
Wolves keep Yellowstone in balance.
Rewilding at Knepp, West Sussex.
Large scale rewilding in the UK
Across the UK many large and medium scale rewilding projects are now underway. Two fantastic examples are the wilding of the Knepp Estate in West Sussex and the work of Trees for Life in Scotland who are undertaking the restoration of large areas of Caledonian Forest.
What is really encouraging is that the number of landowners wanting to rewild their land is growing, and fast, find out more about what is happening here in the UK at Rewilding Britain.
Rewilding in smaller spaces.
Smaller spaces have some constraints, the absence of large herbivores for one! Without such species, and with the starting point of intensively managed landscapes, some initial intervention is often needed to create and restore natural habitat. However, the ultimate aim is to let nature have her way, to allow the restoration of organic processes that require minimum human intervention and give maximum wildlife benefit. (Please see Emorsgate Wild Seeds excellent article on Wild Flowers and Rewilding).
Depending on the space available there are a number of ways you can start rewilding, here are some options we use in schools;
1. Restore hedgerows by stopping annual cutting. Instead, trim hedges in sections, in rotation, every three years in order to maintain food sources and cover for birds and invertebrates throughout the winter.
2. Enhance existing hedgerows or plant a new hedge, using a conservation mix of native species of trees and shrubs, the more diversity of species the better.
3. Allow wide grass margins to develop at the base of hedges to create habitat for small mammals and reptiles, foraging for chicks, cover for ground nesting birds and overwintering habitat for insects. Do not cut this area, allow long tussocky grassland to develop, and if necessary, top areas in rotation in October but maintain a 5-6 inch litter layer for wildlife habitat.
4. Stop the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers - go organic, better for you, better for wildlife.
5. Allow a variety of different habitats to develop; scrub, bare ground, grassland and wildflowers, deadwood piles, large trees in hegerows, copse, orchard, woodland..etc.
6. Sow a wildflower strip with native wildflower seeds, or create a meadow, if space allows.
7. On south facing banks allow some bare areas of ground for butterflies and solitary bees.
Image by rewildmystreet.org
Over the last 40 years blue tits have declined by 42% (British Trust for Ornithology).
8. Build a pile of logs and leave undisturbed for insects, reptiles and small mammals such as hedgehogs.
9. Develop a nettle bank in a sunny spot for butterflies.
10. Plant native bulbs for a spring meadow to provide early nectar sources for pollinators.
11. Build a shallow pond and wetland area.
The principle is ‘build it and they will come’ - watch nature recover and wildlife return, and most importantly of all, having done all this, do your very best to ensure the habitat remains - some of the wildlife that moves in will probably not venture far - you have allowed them to come and live with you, be nature’s guardian and allow them to remain with you.
What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
