The Burrells’ degraded agricultural land has become a functioning ecosystem again, heaving with life – all by itself. Thanks to the introduction of free-roaming cattle, ponies, pigs and deer – proxies of the large animals that once roamed Britain – the 3,500 acre project has seen extraordinary increases in wildlife numbers and diversity in little over a decade.Įxtremely rare species, including turtle doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons, lesser spotted woodpeckers and purple emperor butterflies, are now breeding at Knepp, and populations of other species are rocketing. Part gripping memoir, part fascinating account of the ecology of our countryside, Wilding is, above all, an inspiring story of hope.įorced to accept that intensive farming on the heavy clay of their land at Knepp was economically unsustainable, Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell made a spectacular leap of faith: they decided to step back and let nature take over. In Wilding, Isabella Tree tells the story of the ‘Knepp experiment’, a pioneering rewilding project in West Sussex, using free-roaming grazing animals to create new habitats for wildlife. One of the landmark ecological books of the decade.' Sunday Times 'Books of the Year' 'A passionately personal, robustly argued and uplifting book. Highly Commended by the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize Winner of t he Richard Jefferies Society and White Horse Book Shop Literary Prize
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