Trailblazing rewilding site offered hope for nature
A trailblazing rewilding site in England has recorded a 900% increase in the number of breeding birds in just 20 years, offering hope for imperilled wildlife.
A two-decade ecological review of the 3,500-acre Knepp rewilding estate in Sussex points to “a dramatic recovery in wildlife”, revealing how butterfly numbers have doubled in some areas, while dragonflies and damselflies have increased by nearly 900%.
The transformation of Knepp from an unprofitable farm into a biodiversity hotspot was outlined in Isabella Tree’s hit book Wilding. Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell assisted nature in recolonising the site, including by introducing free-roaming animals, such as English longhorn cattle, which fill ecological roles left by extinct animals.
“We’ve gone from a monoculture landscape to a rich mosaic of parkland, scrub, hedgerows, glades and grassland,” said Fleur Dobner, a Knepp ecologist. “The trend is strongly positive and still increasing year on year.”
Knepp has become a sanctuary for endangered birds, including turtle doves and nightingales, numbers of which have risen by 600% and 511% respectively while declining elsewhere.
“The uplift in biodiversity shows how much life the land can hold,” said Tree. “We should be much more ambitious for our nature reserves and rewilding projects.”
Image: Little owls at Knepp. Credit: Ned Burrell
