Wilding : the return of nature to a British farm / Isabella Tree.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tree, Isabella, 1964-

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Agricultural landscape management.

Ecosystem management.

Farm management.

Land use, Rural.

Environmental protection.

Nature conservation.

Biodiversity conservation.

England.

England--West Sussex.

Biodiversity conservation--England--Case studies.

Nature conservation--England--Case studies.

Environmental protection--England.

Land use, Rural--England.

Farm management--England--West Sussex.

Ecosystem management--England--West Sussex.

Agricultural landscape management--England--West Sussex.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xviii, 362 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

[London] : Picador, [2018]

Summary:

In Wilding, Isabella Tree tells the story of the 'Knepp experiment', a pioneering rewilding project in West Sussex, using free-roaming grazing animals to create new habitats for wildlife. Part gripping memoir, part fascinating account of the ecology of our countryside, Wilding is, above all, an inspiring story of hope. Forced to accept that intensive farming on the heavy clay of their land at Knepp was economically unsustainable, Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell made a spectacular leap of faith: they decided to step back and let nature take over. Thanks to the introduction of free-roaming cattle, ponies, pigs and deer - proxies of the large animals that once roamed Britain - the 3,500 acre project has seen extraordinary increases in wildlife numbers and diversity in little over a decade. Extremely rare species, including turtle doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons, lesser spotted woodpeckers and purple emperor butterflies, are now breeding at Knepp, and populations of other species are rocketing. The Burrells' degraded agricultural land has become a functioning ecosystem again, heaving with life - all by itself. Personal and inspirational, Wilding is an astonishing account of the beauty and strength of nature, when it is given as much freedom as possible. -- Publisher.

Contents:

Timeline

Map of the Knapp estate

Introduction

1. Meeting a remarkable man under a remarkable tree

2. At odds with everyting

3. The Serengeti effect

4. The secret of grazing animals

5. A world of wood pasture

6. Wild ponies, pigs and longhorn cattle

7. Creating a mess ; 8. Living with the yellow peril

9. Painted ladies and the perfect storm

10. Purple emperrors

11. Nightingalers

12. Turtle doves

13. Rewilding the river

14. Bringing back the beaver

15. pasture-fed

16. Rewilding the soil

17. The value of Nature

Appendix: Knapp Wildland Advisory Board.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [329]-331) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

1509805095

9781509805099

OCLC:

1035680140