Sir David Attenborough - 2020
“To restore stability to our planet, therefore, we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing we have removed. It is the only way out of this crisis that we ourselves have created. We must rewild the world!”
Beavers are amazing 'ecosystem engineers', their dams create wetlands, allowing nature to thrive.
Photo: (c) Sam Rose 2022
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
Nature in the UK is in crisis from years of intensive agriculture, destruction of important habitats, lack of investment in conservation, pollution and urbanisation. We are now living in a landscape which not only can't protect us from the effects of flooding, drought and pollution, but has left many animal and plant species on the brink of disappearing from our shores altogether.
Although it may seem a rural idyll, West Dorset is no different from many other parts of the UK and its 'biodiversity' - the variety of life - has been hugely depleted over the last 70+ years. We have set up this charity now because we understand the problems facing nature, how this impacts on all of us, and how, as custodians of the land, we can start to make a difference on our doorstep
Isabella Tree – Wilding, 2018
“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.”
SO WHAT ARE WE DOING?
We are focusing our attention initially on the wider Brit River catchment, which includes the areas around the Symene, the Asker, the Brit and the Mangerton rivers. Within this area we aim to bring together landowners and farmers into a coalition of the willing to improve nature at a catchment scale. The Brit Catchment Recovery Project will start in 2023.
Also within the wider Brit, we will also be asking whether the area is suitable for a wild release of beavers. These large and cute vegetarians, now once again recognised as a native and protected species, have so much potential to improve nature, but they are controversial because the can cause flooding and fell trees.
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Click the button below, and the events list above, to find out more about these project and other work we will be doing in 2023 and onwards.
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Marbled White butterflies love the flower of thistles that grow in scrubby rewilding landscapes
Photo: (c) Sam Rose 2021
Derek Gow - The Guardian, 2020
"If we keep on this course we'll be left living on a planet full of pigeons and dogs on the beaten-down crust of our own excrement"