STYLE | Interview
Rewilding the Wight Debbie Tann’s job is inherently contradictory - a mixture of urgency and taking the foot off the gas. Of engaging the public, while keeping them at arm’s length. And right now it is about managing expectations of something potentially very exciting for the Isle of Wight...
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By R oz W h ista nce Pictu res Ju l ia n Wi nslow
way for the M25 motorway. “Seeing it being dug and the hedges and trees disappear made me quite upset. The more I learned about the environment the more I yearned to do something positive to help it.”
here’s a sense of suppressed excitement on the spring morning when we meet at Newchurch Moors, one of the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s newest nature reserves. Debbie Tann has news about rewilding the Isle of Wight – and this spot in particular. Debbie is the Chief Executive of the Trust, a charity with the aims of conserving wildlife, and engaging and educating the public about it. “This is part of a bold plan to put nature into recovery,” she explains as we walk. “We’ve got 13 nature reserves on the Island, but will be adding to that this year. That’s doubled our land holding in the last five years.” The Trust has been buying land throughout the Eastern Yar Valley – from Morton Marsh through to Sandown Meadows – and recently added Newchurch Moors. “Norah Boswell of the Garlic Farm dynasty gave part of this land to the Trust,” Debbie explains, “and the rest, along with some neighbouring land, was purchased from the family after a successful fundraising appeal last year, creating a vital sanctuary for nature – and the Trust’s biggest reserve on the Island. It’s like a big jigsaw puzzle, we put the bits together so the land is more effective.” ‘Being effective’ means improving the area for wildlife. Some of the trees have been opened out to allow
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Image credit: David Parkyn & Cornwall Wildlife Trust
for ground flora, such as sedges and herbs, to thrive. Now, light filters through and improves the water quality. By grazing the land, too, the vigorous plants are kept down to enable wildflowers to flourish. Their nectar feeds insects, which feed the birds. It’s only when talking to Debbie that you realise not only the scale of the Wildlife Trust’s influence on the Island, but also its huge ambition. “When we started it was in such a small way, but now thanks to our fantastic members – we’ve got about 27,000 now who donate monthly, as well those leaving legacies and even donating land – we are able to acquire areas that can give nature more space,” she says. “Some wildlife doesn’t cope well with disturbance, and it’s vulnerable to pollution and climate change.” Debbie has been part of the Trust for 20 years, but an environmentalist since, as a child in Surrey, she saw fields she played in ripped up to make
She gained a place at University College London to study environmental science, and followed her first degree with a Masters in Conservation. “I was really chuffed to get there. There weren’t many courses in the subject then, and famous conservationists and environmentalists like Tony Juniper had studied this course at UCL.” At the time few people thought you could make the environment a career, so Debbie began volunteering, and eventually landed a paid job, surveying all the ponds across Surrey, using old maps to locate many that had disappeared. “My work involved walking around in waders and wellies. My car always smelled of pond water!” In 1998 she landed the job as conservation officer with the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and left Surrey for Southampton. “I was quite good at fundraising and management. I kept getting promoted and eventually got the role of Chief Executive in 2008.” As we talk we have reached a lake, round which the path goes under willow and other trees and bushes, and the Trust’s vision for the land becomes apparent: “Because it has been used
