The Rewilders

Product Information

Lee Schofield had enjoyed avaried career in conservation by the time he took up his position at the RSPB’s Wild Haweswater reserve. He’d worked with local communities, including farmers, elsewhere in Cumbria, and was enthusiastic about the journey ahead.

Kirsty enthuses about the potential. ​ “What we can do here is show how managing land for nature recovery can be economically viable, and then get other landowners on board as well. Yeah, the possibilities are really exciting: this can help create aScotland where nature is thriving, where people are thriving, and their businesses are aswell.” We grew trees in small groves, cut down forests for firewood, opening up areas of grassland once again. We coppiced woodland, creating variable habitats with grassy meadows, bushy scrub and higher canopy forest. We also cultivated Hazel for its nuts, shoots and timber (it is excellent for charcoal production), and spread the seeds of fruit trees wherever we roamed. Our small scale agriculture created mosaics of activity across a wider, less-managed landscape, where we managed numbers of game animals by hunting for food. These activities show that humans have been, for many thousands of years, an integral part of our ecosystems.A terrific book full of tension and plot twists, interwoven with a very satisfying story of self-discovery. https://getkidsintobooks.com/2022/04/08/the-rewilders-by-lindsay-littleson/ Like Dorette, Olly wasn’t born into agriculture, although arural childhood involvement with the local Wildlife Trust meant he grew up ​ “immersed in green”. Then in 2013, after studying fine art and working in acreative social enterprise, ​ “the bombshell dropped”. His mother-in-law presented him with afantastic offer. ​ “She owned this farm – Essebeare. Its tenant was retiring. How would Ilike to come and run it?!” Olly jumped at the chance, forming apartnership with his wife and mother-in-law, with him as majority shareholder. The estate had been divesting some of its lands for awhile, but when the news came through in 2019 that alittle over 2, 000hectares of the Tarras Valley was up for sale, it was ​ “a bolt from the blue”, says Margaret. She and others in the town immediately spotted an opportunity to turn the community’s fortunes around. Before founding The Rewilders, Rohini created and hosted the Soul-Centered Series — a seven-month immersion into the "Principles" understanding with teachers who learned directly from the enlightened theosopher Sydney Banks.

Incredibly powerful and poignant storytelling. https://www.edspire.co.uk/year_2022/04/10/the-rewilders/ The countryside in all its glory is vividly described and the joy and healing power of nature works its magic on the reader as well as the children. The topic of rewilding is sensitively explored with a balanced view being offered and the feeling that compromise and co-operation are needed to make such projects successful.

Teachers’ Resources

But rewilding is more than just focusing on local communities, and, when it comes to people, there are quite a lot of different ideas about what ‘rewilding’ really means. In fact, Rewilding Europe lists a somewhat astonishing 11 different principles which they describe as the foundations of rewilding. Many of these focus on people, from ‘providing hope and purpose’ to ‘building nature-based economies’ and ‘working together’. This gripping and tense read explores the debate about the reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx in Scotland. City Kids Magazine Ecotones’ are a key principle in rewilding – they’re the gradual shift in plant life (and associated animals etc) which you find at the edge of a habitat. A pond edge is a good example – some plants spend their whole lives underwater, while others only tolerate wet roots. If pond levels change over time (which they do in dynamic systems) and new ponds are created (think pig wallows), then ecotones are shifting and forming constantly. This is the same at the edge of habitats like woodland, which advance and recede over time. In rewilding, this movement is not only natural – it is to be encouraged – we celebrate the value it has for biodiversity, creating many new environmental niches.

A south-western speciality, its unique combination of purple moor grass and rush pasture sponges up carbon and water alike, helping prevent flooding downstream. Much work has been done by the local Wildlife Trust to quantify the value of these​‘ecosystem services’, and Val is visibly proud of its precious flora and rare species, including the marsh fritillary butterfly. Esme and Callum have both been either involved in, or victim of, bullying, and the story invites the reader to consider this important issue from both sides, including the pressure a bully can exert over their extended, and sometimes reluctant, peers. Even in its early days, the benefits of the work undertaken so far are already apparent. ​ “I’m doing alot by not farming here”, explains Dorette. ​ “The water stays on the land [helping prevent] floods.” Olly confirms the impact. ​ “Since these guys came, the river hasn’t burst its banks like it always used to, and the flow of water has been drastically reduced. It makes ahuge difference, having that ​ ‘sponge’ upstream.” An absolute gem of a book… Beautifully written, The Rewilders is a delightful mix of adventure, friendship, and conservation. It is unafraid to touch on difficult topics such as bullying and fostering but does so in such a sympathetic manner. https://www.tippytupps.com/review/books-for-grown-ups/the-rewilders-by-lindsay-littleson-ad/

Books

Suddenly, Esme find herself on a dangerous mission to rewild Cora, along with Callum Docherty for company, the school’s ‘bad boy’, and Shug, the worst guard dog in the world.