I first heard about Wilding when I came across an article by Isabella Tree in The Guardian. It was an article about the environmental impacts of eating livestock that was reared in a natural environment compared to the environmental impacts of intensely farmed vegetables, and the descriptions of the Knepp estate caught my eye. When I made a recent Book Depository order, I felt that it was time to get this and learn more.

Wilding chronicles the journey (and benefits) of turning Knepp from a traditional farm into a natural oasis, how this process of returning the land to nature not only helped the environment, but ended up being profitable for them. Chapter by chapter, Isabella takes us through the process of their journey – how they chose which cows to introduce, how the animals started to return, and their battle trying to get enough funding.

I finished this book with a much greater understanding of what the Knepp estate is all about and a deep yearning to see it for myself. It sounds like the best of both worlds – helping the environment while making money responsibly. It was also eye-opening to learn about the plight of turtle doves, nightingales, and other animals in the UK and how they can learn from other countries such as the Netherlands.

Closer to home, Singapore has had an unintentional rewilding experiment of its own. As part of the circuit breaker, the grass at the roadsides were left alone and as a result, many plants normally treated as weeds were left alone. At first, I thought that this was rather untidy (much like the people around the Knepp estate!) but after reading this and hearing about how these flowers supported the butterfly ecosystem in Singapore, I’m hoping that the government will let nature take back a bit more land.

Overall, Wilding is a love letter to Britain and its natural past, a well-written explanation of how nature functions in an ecosystem, and a stirring call to action. And not just a call to action, the Knepp estate has already demonstrated what can be done. I hope that more people will emulate them.

If You Liked This…

Butterflies of Singapore has a nice post on how the circuit breaker has helped the butterflies in Singapore.

If you’d like to see another example of a field being wilded/rewilded, Vincent Living has a nice video on Youtube on the subject and a gorgeous one on sunset in their rewild field.