Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm

Tree, Isabella

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1509805109 ISBN 13: 9781509805105

Publisher: Picador, 2019

'The most inspirational book I've read in years. In every chapter, new species return.’ - Caitlin Moran (on Twitter)

Winner of the Richard Jefferies Society and White Horse Book Shop Literary Prize

Highly Commended by the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize

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. Part gripping memoir, part fascinating account of the ecology of our countryside, Wilding is, above all, an inspiring story of hope.

Forced 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. 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.

Extremely 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. The Burrells’ degraded agricultural land has become a functioning ecosystem again, heaving with life – all by itself.

Personal and inspirational, Wilding is an astonishing account of the beauty and strength of nature, when it is given as much freedom as possible.

Review:

This must be the most inspirational nature book of the year . . . a narrative of conservation, courage, vision and miracles... The story of what happened is thrilling . . . the Knepp Conservation Project is world-famous: a beacon of hope . . . Read this book and marvel. -- Bel Mooney, 'The Year's Best Books on Nature', Daily Mail

Particularly timely . . . an excellent primer, and anyone who is interested in how we share the planet ― what it looks like, what we eat, and what nature can teach us ― should read this book., Sunday Times

A poignant, practical and moving story of how to fix our broken land, this should be conservation's salvation; this should be its future; this is a new hope. -- Chris Packham, presenter of The Really Wild Show

I recently read Wilding, by Isabella Tree, where she and her husband take their over-farmed, not-profitable estate, and rewild it. Thousands of species return. It will have you in tears. Life exploding again - the reverse of most stories today. Hugely recommended. -- Caitlin Moran (on Twitter)

The remarkable story of an astounding transformation. -- George Monbiot, author of Feral

Wilding shines brilliantly . . . . Isabella Tree writes [. . .] with infectious enthusiasm . . . The project she writes about so winningly . . . is inspirational – and inspiration is needed., Evening Standard

A hugely important addition to the literature of what can be done to restore soil and soul . . . Tree writes with grace about a legion of doubts, obstructions and delays. The book contains moments of lyricism and revelation. -- Caspar Henderson, Guardian

Close to my book of the year. If there’s anything better, I haven’t read it yet . . . An uplifting story and points towards a different sort of farmed future. -- Marcus Berkmann, 'Best Books for Summer Reading', Daily Mail

'Wilding is both a timely and important book . . . Isabella Tree imagines the last migrating turtledove departing Knepp and flying over a Europe “that is being recolonized by beavers, wolves, wolverines, jackals and bears.” And it is in that changing landscape that hope resides.' -- Tim Flannery, New York Review of Books

Every farmer (and perhaps every conservationist) in Britain needs to go and spend a day at Knepp. The Knepp ‘wilding’ project is a vitally important experiment for working out what we can do to let Nature back into our farmed landscapes . . . This book tells this vital story and deserves to be widely read. -- James Rebanks, author of A Shepherd’s Life

Book Description:

Wilding tells the story of a remarkable experiment: the rewilding of the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, the restoration of natural ecological processes, and the stunning recovery of flora and fauna.