Wilding

''A poignant, practical and moving story of how to fix our broken land, this should be conservation''s salvation; this should be its future; this is a new hope'' - Chris Packham 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. Winner of t he Richard Jefferies Society and White Horse Book Shop Literary Prize. 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. Highly Commended by the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize.

An excellent book.

Préface
Wilding tells the story of a remarkable experiment: the rewilding of the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, the restoration of natural ecological processes, and the stunning recovery of flora and fauna.

Auteur

Isabella Tree is an award-winning author, travel writer, and owner of the the Knepp Wildland Project, together with her husband the conservationist Charlie Burrell. She is the author of several books, including Wilding, The Living Goddess and The Bird Man.

Texte du rabat

Shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Award for Nature Writing
'Excellent . . . Anyone who is interested in how we share the planet - what it looks like, what we eat, and what nature can teach us - should read this book.' Sunday Times
'A hugely important addition to the literature of what can be done to restore soil and soul' Guardian
'This must be the most inspirational nature book of the year . . . a narrative of conservation, courage, vision and miracles . . . Read this book and marvel.' Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 'The Year's Best Books on Nature'

'This joyful, poignant memoir tells the story of exhausted land becoming a rich ecosystem again, and in doing so, forces us to rethink farming' The Times, 'Books of the Year: Nature'

'A passionately personal, robustly argued and uplifting book . . . One of the landmark ecological books of the decade.' Sunday Times, 'Books of the Year'

Contenu
Section - i: Timeline Section - ii: Map of the Knepp estate Introduction - iii: Introduction Chapter - 1: Meeting a Remarkable Man under a Remarkable Tree Chapter - 2: At Odds with Everything Chapter - 3: The Serengeti Effect Chapter - 4: The Secret of Grazing Animals Chapter - 5: A World of Wood Pasture Chapter - 6: Wild Ponies, Pigs and Longhorn Cattle Chapter - 7: Creating a Mess Chapter - 8: Living with the Yellow Peril Chapter - 9: Painted Ladies and the Perfect Storm Chapter - 10: Purple Emperors Chapter - 11: Nightingales Chapter - 12: Turtle Doves Chapter - 13: Rewilding the River Chapter - 14: Bringing Back the Beaver Chapter - 15: Pasture-fed Chapter - 16: Rewilding the Soil Chapter - 17: The Value of Nature Section - iv: Appendix: Knepp Wildland Advisory Board Section - v: Sources Section - vi: Bibliography Acknowledgements - vii: Acknowledgements Index - viii: Index Section - ix: List of Illustrations