Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm

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Tree, Isabella (April 2015). "The Living Goddess of Nepal". History Today. 65 (4) . Retrieved 16 September 2016. the updated 2016 State of Nature report discovered that the UK has lost significantly more biodiversity over the long term than the world average. Ranked twenty-ninth lowest out of 218 countries, we are among the most nature-depleted countries in the world.” The words Isabella Tree uses to describe the journey from unprofitable farm, to a haven for endangered species and reintroduced species are magical. This book is not a heavy scientific tome but it contains enough information to make you question your purchasing decisions at the supermarket, and what you consider beautiful in the natural environment. And if I had enough money to buy every Member of Parliament a copy, and the ability to force them to read it, I would. What will stay with me most after reading this book is the soil. The solution to many of the major environmental issues of our time might literally be the ground beneath our feet. Soil that is managed by nature rather than by man has a huge capacity for storing carbon. Letting nature manage nature has the potential to solve global warming. This is a staggering thought. As the book puts it

Wilding By Isabella Tree | Used | 9781509805105 | World of Books Wilding By Isabella Tree | Used | 9781509805105 | World of Books

This book contains some fantastic nature writing and - its real strength - brutal and unsentimental honesty about the economics of farming, the economics of giving up farming and the compromises involved. It makes a convincing case for wilding (which largely involves leaving land alone; a mix of large grazing herbivores were involved, but there was no control field) and for wilding being incentivised by policy. Which is a good thing. Tree attended Millfield School. [1] She was adopted by an aristocratic British family as a baby. She read Classics, following the advice of author Iris Murdoch and went the University of London. [2] Career [ edit ]

Isabella Tree’s remarkable journey takes us to the heart of the remote and beautiful Highlands of Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya – one of the most extraordinary and dangerous regions on earth. Comic and tragic by turns, Islands in the Clouds is her moving story of the Highland people and the changes transforming their world.

Isabella Tree - Wikipedia Isabella Tree - Wikipedia

I can already say, with absolutely no hesitation, that this will be one of my books of the year. There is no book I’ve learned more from, or been more enthralled by reading. I say this as someone who has only a mild-to-middling interest in nature/environment/ecology issues, at least in terms of prior knowledge and depth of scientific understanding. Isabella Tree is a great storyteller who manages to convert quite a lot of technical information into a plot - a drama, even - which any reasonably intelligent and diligent reader can follow. Probably the best book I have read this year. I have been to Knepp on several occasions and spoken with both Isabella and Charlie and their passion for rewilding is amazing. They are also genuinely nice people. Wilding is truly the most magnificent and inspiring book. -- Adam Nicholson, author of The Seabird's Cry

What to do from here? Pay more attention to local environmental initiatives, get involved. Don't just succumb to tree planting outings, because they aren't the answer. But the world of academia is a strange, sometimes counterproductive and often sluggish place. Where one may expect it to be open and responsive to new thinking, it can be oddly conservative and resistant to radical ideas.”

Wilding Quotes by Isabella Tree - Goodreads Wilding Quotes by Isabella Tree - Goodreads

The thing Tree never mentions is that her husband's family are traditional aristocrats, and the land they are rewilding is their estate. It was historically not just their productive land, but also the home of many tenant farmers. Their land is apparently shot through with roads and paths (it's unclear) maybe even houses and businesses? And as for the dog walkers, it's not just about the universal British law that anyone can traverse anybody's land whatever they want if they're taking a walk. The estate functioned as a kind of public park and event center for the whole community. On one hand, this makes what they're doing all the more valuable and interesting, but on the other hand, it casts a somewhat different light on the dynamic between them and the angry comments they get from the public. Either way, it seems like something that would have been worth explaining more explicitly, because afaik, even in the densely populated Netherlands, Oostvardersplassen was uninhabited before it was turned over to the wild animals. I'm not sure the degree of urban-rewilding integration here has a clear precedent.All of that is the core topic of the book. But the other interesting aspect was something so obvious to Tree that it took a while to dawn on me. She starts the story by describing her and her husband's efforts to intensively farm their land, winning awards and setting records for dairy production despite unfavorable heavy clay soil. And as she described that work, I was picturing their land as a dairy farm similar to the ones I grew up near: big, rural fields in the country, with a small farmhouse near the sheds and dairy barns on the road. So when they got their land fenced and introduced feral cows and pigs, it seemed fairly reasonable. It was only when she started talking about how conflicts with dog walkers limited their breed choices, and how the wild pigs tried to steal food for a wedding they were hosting, that I remembered just how different things are in Britain. Then she mentions the castle and it all fell into place. People have a famously soft spot for pigs. Intelligent, inquisitive, imperious, myopic, sociable, gluttonous, grunting, ungainly, it is easy to recognize ourselves in them.” We forget, in a world completely transformed by man, that what we’re looking at is not necessarily the environment wildlife prefer, but the depleted remnant that wildlife is having to cope with: what it has is not necessarily what it wants.”

Wilding by Isabella Tree | Waterstones Wilding by Isabella Tree | Waterstones

The knowledge is already out there. We just have to listen. The contributors to this issue all have a deep understanding of how nature works. 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. These stories will, I hope, be both enlightening and empowering, galvanising us to bring about change. The author has seen incredible changes to the environment over the years. Whole chapters of this book are dedicated to the “glamour species” that have returned to the land - the nightingale, the turtle dove, the purple emperor. But it is the less glamorous creatures sitting low down in the food chain that are, for me, the real stars of the book. 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.To Nepalis she is the embodiment of Devi and for centuries the kings of Nepal have sought her blessing to rule. Legends swirl about her. But the facts remain shrouded in secrecy and closely guarded by the Living Goddess’s priests and caretakers. With unprecedented access, earned through her many years of research, Isabella Tree takes us deep into this hidden world. Deeply felt and compellingly told, The Living Goddess is a profound and extremely moving book. This must be the most inspirational nature book of the year . . . a narrative of conservation, courage, vision and miracles... The story of what happened is thrilling . . . the Knepp Conservation Project is world-famous: a beacon of hope . . . Read this book and marvel. -- Bel Mooney, 'The Year's Best Books on Nature' * Daily Mail * Anyone with any interest in land - from a window-box to a National Park - needs to read this book. -- Simon Barnes, author of T he Meaning of Birds