Rewilding the Landscape

RECONNECTING WITH NATURE

Knepp Castle was built in 1806 by the Burrell family, and has remained in the family since. The current owner, Charles Burrell took over in 1987, and struggled for years to make the farm profitable. In 2000, struck by ideas he had read regarding rewilding, he decided to go down a different route.

In 1987, Charles noticed that the ancient oak trees that Knepp was famous for, were dying off. An expert told them that the farming methods they were employing to try and make the farm successful was killing off the oaks; intensive ploughing, fertilisers and pesticides were destroying the delicate soil structures and funguses that the trees relied on. It was decided that a change was needed; the Knepp Estate is now nearly two decades into a grand experiment, and the work is paying off.

The Burrells erected fences around the property and left the farm alone following advice from a scientific advisory board they established. Initially left to itself, the flora ran riot. The family then bought in large herbivores that had history in the area; longhorn cattle, Exmoor ponies, wild pigs and different varieties of deer, to help the land find a natural equilibrium. The foraging, rooting and eating habits of the animals have prevented the land from becoming thick brush, and evolve instead into an open woodland.

The result is a space only 44 miles from central London, that has been returned to nature. It is a haven for migratory birds and is the only place in the UK where the nightingale population is increasing. They also host populations of other rare species including the turtle dove, peregrine falcon and purple emperor butterfly. Populations of other species, from beetles to bats, are rocketing. The public are clamouring to experience this space for themselves, and the wildlife safaris are booked up well in advance by people wanting to see deer and other animals in their natural habitat.

In addition to more traditional safaris, the Burrells also run tours showing people how they can re-wild their spaces. From being a loss-making farm, Knepp is now a successfully run estate, with money coming in from many corners. Although often called rewilding, the Burrells aren’t sure about the term. They know that times have changed, and they are unlikely to bring back wolves and bears; even their storks caused a storm and there have been objections to plans to introduce beavers. They insist they aren’t trying to go back and capture something lost, but rather create something new and precious in our intensively used landscape.

So are the Burrells mad, or eco-warriors looking to protect nature at whatever the cost to themselves? Not at all; with the accounts looking better than they have done in years, and a healthy profit reflecting the healthy land, the question might be why some other farmers don’t follow suit.

As a traditional farm Knepp averaged around £150,000 a year profit, which was offset by investments in heavy machinery and other technologies – either to improve yields or adhere to legislations. Now, just one field that they have given over to glamping and featuring yurts instead of wheat, generates £50,000 a year in profit, with minimal outlays. In addition to this the farm benefits from sales of high-grade organic meat which is much in demand, a rental yield from letting out buildings to local businesses, and income from tours and safaris from eco-tourism. Lastly, they benefit from generous subsidies from the EU as ‘environmental stewards’, although this may soon come to an end. Business is booming, and places like Knepp demonstrate how nature and profit can co-exist side by side, if we are willing to change our ways of thinking.

FINDING YOUR PATH

As people become more aware of the difficulties facing our wildlife and natural spaces, they are getting more engaged with solutions and supporting people looking to make a difference. It is only with this public support that places like Knepp are able to thrive, but how do we encourage these all-important links between nature and the public?

One of the best things we can do is go out and enjoy it, after all you can’t value what you don’t know! This is where a campaign set up to record all 150,000+ miles of public footpaths across England and Wales come in. England and Wales have around 140,000 miles of public footpaths, but tens of thousands of miles have been lost from maps and there is a growing effort to rediscover and officially register those that are lost. Footpaths are rights of access for the public and many of them have history stretching back years, some of them can be traced back to Roman times. They usually connected seemingly separate pieces of land, wind over fields and woodland, and form paths between towns, cities and areas of beauty and interest.

Despite their age and the traditions associated with them, access to public foot paths have been figuratively, and sometimes literally, eroded with ways forgotten, erased and in some cases illegally blocked. This reduces people’s ability to access the countryside.

The government has set a date of 2026 as the closing date to submit a rediscovered or contested footpath to be officially registered as a public right of way, check Ramblers UK for more information.