After almost two years of donating to Rewilding Britain, the climate emergency shows no sign of slowing down any time soon, making our efforts all the more important. Below, Kate Barclay from the British charity explains why and how rewilding is so necessary for safeguarding our planet for future generations.
Over the last couple of years, dominated by lockdowns and travel restrictions, people throughout the nation have come to value nature more than ever. We have needed it with a kind of yearning and appreciation that has perhaps surprised some.
But only some of us have realised that nature in Britain is massively depleted. It’s part of a global extinction crisis that has seen more than half of the world’s wildlife lost within living memory. Far from bucking the trend, the UK is one of the most nature-depleted nations – with the State of Nature Report ranking it 189 out of 218 assessed across the globe.
The breakdown of our climate is no longer a fringe concern, but is increasingly recognised by the public as an urgent threat, to both nature and human society. That’s where rewilding comes in. It’s not a silver bullet. It’s new, so we’ve much to learn. But it offers a step-change in how we treat nature. It’s a land and marine management approach that offers hope, and the opportunity to give nature – and us – a fighting chance.
Rewilding means the large-scale restoration of nature to the point where it can take care of itself. It’s about reinstating natural processes and – when and where it makes sense – missing species, such as pine marten, beaver and golden eagle. 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, and why we are working to enthuse, inspire and inform people of all ages and from all walks of life.
We want to see at least 30% of Britain’s land rewilding or being restored to nature in some form by 2030. This involves the restoration of a mosaic of habitats such as native forests, saltmarshes, wetlands, peatbogs, heaths and species-rich grasslands. And that these be interconnected with areas where high-nature-value enterprises and production are encouraged, such as low-impact mixed forestry, nature tourism, harvesting of natural products and naturalistic grazing. Our role is to catalyse and support rewilding initiatives across England, Scotland and Wales and therefore increase the impacts for people and place.
We are also a campaigning organisation. Our Wilder National Parks campaign is highlighting that national parks should be leading the way, but decades-old laws are hobbling the parks’ ability to tackle the nature and climate crises. Many of us will have spent time over the summer in one of our wonderful national parks. The landscapes are undoubtedly magnificent - but these precious places are often woefully nature-depleted, despite many superb conservation initiatives. 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%.
Individuals, businesses, community groups and organisations are helping us build a rewilding movement to ensure a positive future for Britain’s wildlife, nature and people. Unique Homestays has been a true partner for a couple of years now and counting, and has contributed almost £8,000 to date towards Rewilding Britain’s critical work.
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.
