Originally, rewilding was a term used by ecologists to describe the idea of returning tracts of farmed or otherwise human-used land or water to nature. Rather than just conserving flora and fauna, this concept was intended to restore large-scale eco-systems with interconnected habitats and communities of plants and animals.

Although it is often talked of as just doing nothing and letting nature take over, the reality is more complicated and nuanced than this. The end goal is to create resilient natural systems that are self-sustaining and reverse the decline in biodiversity.

Over the years, as the word has become more widely used, and used in wider contexts, it has come to mean a variety of different things to different people – a situation not helped by the fact that there is no set plan to follow when you want to rewild. It doesn’t mean just one thing. Every piece of land is different and how it could be rewilded will depend on its location, size, history, climate, soil, topography and how much money you have.

However, those who have adopted a rewilding approach, such as Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree of Knepp Castle, have generally tried and followed some core principles, such as stopping production on the land, and reducing or completely removing sheep to limit grazing and allow native and beneficial plants the opportunity to thrive unhindered. Another well-known aspect is developing and connecting up woodlands and meadow-like areas, to create wildlife habitats and corridors, and managing river courses.

The most cited element, however, is the reintroduction of ‘keystone’ species, often predators, like wolves or lynx. In other parts of the world, these keystone species might be lions, or bears. The idea is that they have the defining role and are the lynchpins of the whole network, having a disproportionately large impact on their eco-system relative to other species, by doing things like keeping down large populations of grazing animals.

Why is rewilding controversial?

So, what’s the problem? Well, let’s take beavers as an example. Rewilding projects in Britain have been working on reintroducing beavers, which they say will help prevent future flooding, restore wetlands and therefore increase biodiversity, and fill in the gaps in the web of relationships between species in these habitats so they can return to a functioning, self-managing eco-system.

The reality is, say critics, that if you release wild animals who can have such a huge impact on their environment on to your land, there is nothing stopping them swimming down the river a bit and gnawing down the trees on mine. Other detractors of rewilding believe the entire idea is rich people’s folly when land is scarce and should be used for food production and housing, not left to its own devices.

Some rewilding projects work hard to include their local human communities and build them into the system too, with jobs, for example – where there was once farming, is now eco-tourism. Advocates believe these systems can offer a more stable, resilient future for all in the face of challenges like climate change, through soil restoration, flood mitigation, water and air purification, an increase in pollinating insects and carbon sequestration.

Rewilding Britain has a vision of ‘at least 5 per cent of Britain rewilded, with 25 per cent returned to broader mosaics of nature-friendly land and marine uses — including farming, forestry and fishing’. The organisation sees this expansion reversing biodiversity loss and enabling nature to bounce back.

It has a 12-step programme to follow for people who want to rewild, including do nothing for a while, gather information about the land, get expert help and advice, think about and then mimic natural processes, encourage the return of native species, measure and monitor changes, and engage and communicate with the local community.

© Richard Bloom

Of course, rewilding big expanses of land and water is a different proposition to trying to rewild a smaller space like a garden, but there are still many ways, and benefits, to making your garden more wildlife friendly. To find out more, discover how to rewild your garden and how the Walled Garden at Knepp Castle was rewilded.

Join our upcoming reader day event at Knepp Castle Walled Garden with Tom Stuart-Smith and Charlie Harpur.

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