Wilding The Return of Nature to a British Farm

Isabella Tree

eAudio - 2020

An inspiring story about what happens when 3,500 acres of land, farmed for centuries, is left to return to the wild, and about the wilder, richer future a natural landscape can bringFor years Charlie Burrell and his wife, Isabella Tree, farmed Knepp Castle Estate and struggled to turn a profit. By 2000, with the farm facing bankruptcy, they decided to try something radical. They would restore Knepp's 3,500 acres to the wild. Using herds of free-roaming animals to mimic the actions of the megafauna of the past, they hoped to bring nature back to their depleted land. But what would the neighbors say, in the manicured countryside of modern England where a blade of grass out of place is considered an affront?In the face of considerable opp...osition the couple persisted with their experiment and soon witnessed an extraordinary change. New life flooded into Knepp, now a breeding hot spot for rare and threatened species like turtle doves, peregrine falcons, and purple... more