Your World.
Your Future.
Have you ever looked around you and thought 'is this landscape helping us tackle climate change, look after wildlife, lessen flooding, giving me space for adventure, as well as producing food and all the other things we need and want in our lives?'
There are lots of reasons why our landscapes look the way they do, but they weren’t created for coping with all the challenges we face today and going forward. So, the question is, can they do better? Rewilding is all about restoring nature to help us create landscapes that are fit for people and nature in the future.
Climate change and the loss of biodiversity are two of the biggest environmental crises we face. This is because of the cascade of impacts they have for our wellbeing, food production, water supply, flooding, equality, and peace.
Rewilding helps tackle climate change by helping nature to capture and store carbon. By letting nature be itself, carbon dioxide is captured through photosynthesis and stored in the plant, particularly wood, and it can eventually end up in the soil. The more carbon stored in plants and soil the less remains in the atmosphere.
In a global assessment of the state of nature across 218 countries, Britain ranked 189th! Only 29 countries have more degraded nature than we do. The amount of wildlife we will save will depend on how much space we give to nature. The more space we give, the more species will survive. The best supported ‘rule’ in ecology is called the ‘species area relationship’, which states that the bigger the habitat the more species it will hold.
These habitats will support even more plants and animals if they are connected to related habitat through wildlife corridors. Rewilding is all about giving more space to nature, connecting those places up, and making sure important species, like beaver, are returned to them.
Our rewilding video series feature, created by Dr. Chris Sandom of University of Sussex, explores inspiring rewilding projects across the UK as you are guided by knowledgeable experts and youth activists from a range of organisations!
This video series was inspired by Bella Lack, and produced by Tim Mein and Sam Pearce (Barford Productions). We’re hugely grateful for everyone’s contribution to the project, many thanks!
In order to limit global warming to 1.5°C, global CO2 emissions need to fall by 7.6% every year between 2020 and 2030. As a result of the Global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this might be achieved for 2020! But the changes ‘lockdown’ has had to our way of life highlights just what a challenge achieving this goal is going to be (and there is already concern about how quickly emissions are increasing again). But rewilding the land can help. Helping peatland to recover to healthy conditions means it will capture the equivalent of 3.6 tonnes of CO2 per ha per year, while woodlands can achieve 12.8 and wetlands 5.1 tonnes. If we can give nature space, it is the same as taking climate action.
Rewilding projects across the UK are reporting wildlife returning to the land. In the Scottish Highlands, trees, moths, butterflies and black grouse are returning to Creag Megaidh. In the Carrifran Wildwood in the Scottish Boarders the number of woodland bird species have increased from 2 to 14 species between 2000 to 2016. Between 2008 and 2015 in Wild Ennerdale in the Lake District the number of breeding territories increased for chiffchaff, blackcap, mistle thrush, grey wagtail, tree pipit, and reed bunting. At Knepp Wildlands in West Sussex, nightingales, turtle doves, and purple emperor butterflies have all made dramatic come-backs since wilder nature started to return to this English farm.
Spending time in wild nature is good for your physical and mental health and wellbeing. More and more people are suffering from what has been termed ‘nature deficit disorder’ and ‘ecological boredom’, especially those living in cities. Spending time in nature helps reduce stress and improves your mood, self-esteem, attention span and immune system. On top of this, in cities, rewilding creates more green space that reduces heat stress, air pollution, and lessens the impacts of flooding. Things are even better when you socialise with friends outside in nature.
By not implementing rewilding we risk the continued loss of nature. This will mean fewer plants and animals living in our countryside, and so less for you to see and enjoy. It will mean fewer trees growing that capture carbon, alleviate flooding, and give other species a chance to thrive.
However, if a network of rewilding sites could be created across the country, supported by small wild patches in gardens, road verges, and grounds, it will let nature bounce back, reconnect us with our wildlife and wild places and bring a lot of benefits from mitigating climate change to improving our health and wellbeing.
Are YOU ready?
Experts, activists and philanthropists agree, one of the most effective ways of making positive global change for our planet is to CONNECT—with each other, with organisations, with charities and specialists. The bigger the project, the BIGGER the impact, and by helping you to join the dots Planetary hopes to assist with your efforts to make worldwide change!
We also want to SHARE your projects to inspire others, so please get in touch!
Set up a team of rewilders and go and talk to land owners in your neighbourhood. Discuss with them why you want more wild nature near you and how they can help mitigate climate change and restore nature by letting some of their land go wild.
Set up a wild swimming or walking group. Nature is best explored with friends, so get your friends and family together to arrange regular trips in to the wild. Make regular trips to local wild places and every now and again head out for a camping/canoeing/climbing trip somewhere more adventurous. Make sure you visit some rewilding sites - tourism is an important way to support local economies in wild areas.
Creating landscapes that are fit for the future is a long-term effort so start training now to be a rewilder in the future using short courses or YouTube tutorials. Training together as a group lets you share each other’s learning and makes the process more fun.
Keep us updated by tagging #yourworldyourfuture #planetaryproject
