United Kingdom
This British farm went from a ‘biological desert’ to biodiversity hotspot by letting the animals take charge
During the spring and summer months, the birdsong on Knepp estate is a glorious cacophony of sound.Walking through the scrubland of this 3,500-acre estate in West Sussex in the south of England, it’s hard to believe the tangled thickets and rugged pastures were once orderly arable fields.
The estate, which includes a 19th century castle, has belonged to the Burrell family for over 200 years. Charlie Burrell inherited it in 1985, when he was just 21.”I came out of agricultural college incredibly enthusiastic about farming,” he says. “We’d been taught that conventional farming can work.”But by the late 1990s, with the farm producing low yields and costs rising,the estate was facing serious financial trouble.
Read more
*************
UK Charity – Rewilding Britain
https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/
We take action for the large-scale restoration of nature – including natural forest and woodland, peatlands, rivers, moorlands and seas – to the point where nature can take care of itself.
Our vision
Rewilding is flourishing across Britain – reconnecting us with the natural world, sustaining communities and tackling the climate emergency and the extinction crisis
Our mission
To champion rewilding in Britain – acting as a catalyst for debate and action, and demonstrating the power of working with nature to tackle the climate emergency and the extinction crisis.
We work with individuals, communities, organisations and experts to:
- influence and change policy, practice and legislation
- enable and support large-scale rewilding projects in collaboration with others
- inspire and inform smaller-scale rewilding projects
- harness people power to campaign effectively for rewildingand raise awareness about rewilding’s benefits for people and wildlife.
USA
Why bringing back bison could help restore America’s lost prairie
“Prairies have co-evolved with bison,” … “It is an ecosystem that depends on grazing disturbance, so folks here brought that dominant grazer back into the system.”
Elizabeth Bach, ecosystem restoration scientist, The Nature Conservancy
Once upon a time, vast expanses of North America were covered in wild prairie, shimmering oceans of grass festooned with wildflowers and teeming with animal life.Today, less than 15% of tallgrass prairie remains, most of it converted to farmland or lost to development. But as conservationists work to revive this iconic landscape, they are increasingly looking for help from an unusually hairy ally.
Up to 30 million bison once grazed the North American grasslands, shaping their environment in the process. By the start of the 20th century, the continent’s biggest land mammals had been hunted almost out of existence. But scientists say that reintroducing bison can once more shape the grasslands, and help restore the diverse wildlife that makes these environments so special.
“Here in the Midwest of North America the tallgrass prairie is a critically endangered ecosystem. In state of Illinois we’ve lost 99% of it,” says Elizabeth Bach, an ecosystem restoration scientist. “Prairie represents a habitat for a lot of plants, animals, insects and birds that don’t have another habitat to live in,” she tells CNN. “It also represents important cultural heritage. This landscape used to be covered in this type of an ecosystem and it’s still very meaningful for a lot of people who live here, as well as people who would historically would have lived here.”
Read more
*****************
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive.
Founded at its grassroots in the United States in 1951, The Nature Conservancy has grown to become one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. Thanks to more than a million members and the dedicated efforts of our diverse staff and more than 400 scientists, we impact conservation in 79 countries and territories across six continents.
The Nature Conservancy is tackling some of the toughest problems facing people and nature today, replicating good ideas to save many places and improve people’s lives. We are grounded by local experience and leverage our science, real-world solutions and partnerships to influence global decision-making.
