Rewilding Britain
In a world in which the overlapping climate, nature and health crises are outpacing us all, hope often seems in short supply.
Experts say we have entered the sixth mass extinction. More than half of the globe’s wildlife has been lost in living memory. Ecosystems and habitats worldwide are being shredded, with species after species pushed into freefall.
Our crumbling biodiversity is in no fit state to withstand climate heating’s shocks – from sea level rises to extreme weather patterns marked by fires, floods and droughts.
Destroying habitats, and caging wild animals or sending them to markets, helps viruses like the one behind Covid-19 to leap more easily from other animals to humans. Experts say the next pandemic is already coming unless we fix our broken relationship with the planet.
Far from bucking the trend, the UK is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries – ranked 189 out of 218. It should be rich in wildlife, but species from songbirds to insects to plankton are collapsing. Over half are declining, one-in-seven tumbling towards extinction.
Traditional conservation has slowed the pace – but it hasn’t been enough to stem this tide of destruction. The culprits include climate breakdown, deforestation, intensive grazing by deer and sheep, burning moors for grouse hunting, over-planting of exotic conifers, denuded seas, industrialization, urbanization, pollution and over-exploitation of natural resources.
This is the loss of our life support system. As Sir David Attenborough put it: “We are dependent on the natural world for every breath of air we take and every mouthful of food we eat.”
But hope is still there. We can turn this around. And that’s where rewilding comes in.
What is rewilding?
Rewilding means the large-scale restoration of nature until it can take care of itself. It’s about reinstating natural processes and – when and where it makes sense – missing native species.
Rewilding can boost biodiversity, create carbon dioxide sinks, reduce the impacts of climate breakdown such as flooding, and improve water quality. All while offering fresh opportunities for communities and local economies, and for people to connect with nature and wild places.
That’s why Rewilding Britain wants rewilding to flourish across Britain, and why we are working to enthuse, inspire and inform people of all ages and from all walks of life.
Campaigning for positive change
We’re calling for nature restoration across 30% of Britain’s land and sea by 2030 – with 5%, some 2.5 million acres, being core rewilding areas of native forests, peatlands, moorlands, heaths, grasslands, wetlands, saltmarshes, kelp beds, seagrass and living reefs, and no loss of productive farmland.
The other 25% would be a healthy mix of different nature recovery areas – from nature reserves and wildlife corridors to marine restoration to opportunities for farmers on marginal land and Government financial support for more nature-friendly farming.
In our national parks, we need to double these figures. Our Wilder National Parks campaign is highlighting how these precious places are often woefully nature-depleted, despite many superb conservation initiatives. Decades-old laws are hobbling the parks’ ability to lead the way in tackling the nature and climate crises.
Our public petition is calling on the UK Government and devolved administrations to rewild public land across 10% of the national parks, and ensure nature recovery over another 50%. The Prime Minister’s promise to protect 30% of Britain’s land by 2030 will remain hollow otherwise.
Another major step would be for the Scottish Government to declare Scotland the world’s first Rewilding Nation – with a commitment to rewilding 30% of land and sea within a decade – in line with the call from the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, of which Rewilding Britain is a member.
Pioneering research
This positive campaigning is underpinned by pioneering research and reports.
This has shown that increasing the scale, quality and connectedness of habitats nationwide could avert some of the potentially catastrophic impacts for wildlife – including saving a fifth of Britain’s species from decline or extinction – caused by the country’s climate zones shifting up to five kilometres a year because of human-caused climate heating.
That restoring 30% of natural habitats such as woodlands, peatlands, grasslands and wetlands would soak up as much as 12% of Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions.
That rewilding marginal land can boost job numbers and volunteering opportunities, with food production and livestock management continuing – puncturing myths claiming otherwise.
Practical rewilding
For practical rewilding, we act as a catalyst. Rather than running projects ourselves we are supporting and advising farmers, landowners and land managers who want to help nature recover while exploring new opportunities on large areas of marginal and unproductive land.
We welcome rewilding at all scales but currently focus on sites of 250 acres and more – to manage our limited resources and because large sites create the biggest biodiversity benefits.
Our Rewilding Network is spearheading this by bringing together landowners, farmers, land managers, community groups and local authorities from across Britain. It’s sharing information, support and expertise, and helping local groups and individuals countrywide interact. Membership has been growing rapidly since its February 2021 launch.
A visit to the Network pages on our website is a tour of hope. Increasing numbers of inspiring projects are taking positive action for nature and people, restoring precious habitats, and bringing back species from beavers to white storks, from red squirrels to water voles.
Make a difference
Individuals, businesses, community groups and organisations can help us build a rewilding movement to ensure a positive future for Britain’s wildlife, nature and people – from making a donation, fundraising, supporting an appeal or leaving a legacy; to supporting our campaigns; to joining the Rewilding Network or rewilding your local patch; to becoming a corporate partner. See rewildingbritain.org.uk/support-rewilding.
The impacts can be huge. Our 2019 petition calling on the UK Government to restore nature on a massive scale to help address climate breakdown saw 100,000 signing within two months – triggering Parliament’s first debate on rewilding, where its vital role was recognised and MPs voted unanimously in favour of the motion. This action helped lead to the creation of the UK’s £640 million Nature for Climate fund.
Rewilding offers us the opportunity to give nature – and us all – a fighting chance. It’s an opportunity to reverse collapses in biodiversity, reboot our relationship with the natural world, and start working with nature instead of against it.
So let’s think big and act wild, and embrace some hope – for ourselves and for future generations. For more information and to get involved, visit rewildingbritain.org.uk.