Such an important book, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

With globally shocking statistics in biodiversity loss, this is the message we all need, that when the will is there, we can make a difference and bring back health to the nature that sustains us. Now home to free-roaming cattle, pigs, and deer, as well as the many once-common wild things that witnessed a resurgence, like the turtle doves, nightingales, and purple emperor butterflies to name a few. The author and co-owner of the property records the progress of the project and the increasing biodiversity of flora and fauna. It is ultimately, a story of hope, but most importantly hope realised.įaced with economic hardship created by a method of farming that is so expensive to maintain, Charlie Burrell decided to plunge instead into an epic project, called the “Knepp Experiment” to see what would happen if they stepped back from the land, could it rewild itself? To his, and many observers, sheer delight the over 8,000 acres of land, very quickly reestablished itself to a diverse ecosystem, and along with the reinvigoration of plantlife came the increase in native wildlife. Helpful Report abuse Book Worm Not at all what I expected. A very detailed book of how animals, birds, insects, reptiles, bats all contribute to a healthy environment. The Burrells' degraded agricultural land has become a functioning ecosystem again, teeming 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.This is the story of how a multi-generational intensive-method farm went from the barren desert that that creates, to the lush, thriving, land that it is today, and one family’s incredibly brave decision to see if they could indeed rewild the piece of earth that they are the guardians of. Reviewed in the United States on AugVerified Purchase A fascinating account of allowing nature to do its thing. 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.

Part gripping memoir, part fascinating account of the ecology of our countryside, this 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. 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.

Wilding by isabella tree review