‘The remarkable story of an astounding transformation.' George Monbiot ‘Excellent….Anyone who is interested in how we share the planet - what it looks like, what we eat, and what nature can teach us - should read this book.’ Sunday Times ‘This joyful, poignant memoir tells the story of exhausted land becoming a rich ecosystem again and, in doing so, forces us to rethink farming.’ The Times, ‘Books of the Year’. ‘A hugely important addition to the literature of what can be done to restore soil and soul.’ Guardian ‘This must be the most inspirational nature book of the year…a narrative of conservation, courage, vision and miracles…Read this book and marvel.’ Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, ‘The Year’s Best Books on Nature’.

‘A passionately personal, robustly argued and uplifting book…One of the landmark ecological books of the decade.’ Sunday Times, ‘Books of the Year’ Part gripping memoir, part fascinating account of the ecology of our countryside, Wilding is, above all, an inspiring story of hope. The project has become a leading light for nature conservation in the UK, demonstrating how a hands-off, 'process-led' approach can restore land and wildlife in a dramatically short space of time. Rare species like turtle doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons and purple emperor butterflies are now breeding at Knepp and biodiversity has rocketed. Managed with minimal human intervention, and with herds of free-roaming animals driving the creation of new habitats, their rewilded land is now heaving with life. Wilding - the return of nature to a british farmįorced to accept that intensive farming on their land at Knepp in West Sussex was economically unsustainable, Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell took a spectacular leap of faith in 2000 and handed their 3,500 acres back to nature. Schwartz, Samanth Subramanian, Ken Thompson, Manari Ushigua, Sheila Watt-Cloutier and Adam Weymouth photography by Xavi Bou and Merlin Sheldrake poetry by Nate Duke and John Kinsella

Martins, Rod Mason, Charles Massy, Rebecca Priestley, Callum Roberts, Judith D. These stories will, I hope, be both enlightening and empowering, galvanising us to bring about change.įeaturing essays by Patrick Barkham, Tim Flannery, Cal Flyn, Jessie Greengrass, Caoilinn Hughes, Amy Leach, Dino J. Some are scientists others, environmental journalists exploring the latest thinking about ecosystems and how to repair them or poets, novelists and activists examining our responses to the current crisis.

The contributors to this issue all have a deep understanding of how nature works. Never has there been a greater need for writers who can communicate about the environment in such clear, immediate and powerful ways, who can envisage the past as well as the future.

Wilding by Isabella Tree