Are you into ‘rewilding’? Can you define what that is? If you can’t, you’re not alone. The term has a variety of meanings, not all ecological. When rewilding was originally envisioned by a pioneering group of North American conservationists in 1991, it was defined by three Cs: cores, corridors and carnivores.
In most nature-restoration projects, it is far easier to tick the first two boxes than the last, but rewilding should really include apex predators for the trophic cascades that ensue. It is also concerned with huge landscapes. And we’re not talking private country estates with a few hundred acres, but thousands of acres.
Think Yellowstone National Park in the USA. Soon after wolves were reintroduced there in the 1990s, vast herds of deer and elk stopped overgrazing the land. They started moving on more regularly, allowing
floral growth to explode. Soon, beavers had trees to fell once more. Their population began to soar, too. The river systems quickly recovered.
You may also like:
That is true rewilding. In the British context, we have what Professor Steve Carver, a leading academic thinker on wilderness environments, calls ‘a scattergun approach to rewilding’. Carver talks of ‘rewilding lite’ involving the use of fences, large herbivore grazing and disturbance of the ground, eco-tourism and farming a meat harvest of free-range venison or pork. There is absolutely no sign of an apex carnivore – other than a human.
What about nature restoration on the garden scale? Knepp Walled Garden within the wider Knepp Estate is leading the way in showing us what we can do in our gardens. Under the curation of head gardener Charlie Harpur, that space has been transformed by a fabulously experimental project into a far wilder and much more ecologically valuable one. But most people are probably still confused by the use
of the term ‘rewilding’ when it comes to a garden.
This is where the notion of ‘renaturing’ can help. Renaturing is the way by which anyone makes a small-scale action to enhance the abundance and biodiversity of the natural world. If you sow wildflowers for passing pollinators in a window box on the balcony of your flat, you are renaturing.
Renaturing is the way by which anyone makes a small-scale action to enhance the abundance and biodiversity of the natural world
If you leave your lawn alone in May, dig a pond or let a patch of your garden grow wild, you are renaturing. The term is not merely a linguistic play, a neologistic nuancing for no reason. If we call these modest acts ‘rewilding’, we diminish the true meaning of rewilding. Instead, the notion of renaturing democratises nature restoration. You don’t need a grand country estate to renature. Anyone can practise renaturing.
What does this look like practically? The example of Knepp Walled Garden demonstrates that the key to renaturing is to look to create as wide a range of habitats in your garden as possible. Renaturing
is about seeing your garden as a whole ecosystem, getting curious about what visits and grows there, and what it wants to grow, as well as consciously adding flowers and plants in. The single aim is to increase biodiversity.
Obviously, choosing the best way forward for a biodiverse garden may also involve practical and aesthetic considerations. In a small suburban garden, letting ivy grow up fences can add huge ecological value; in a bigger garden you may also have the scope for a sprawling bramble bush. Both are brilliant wild plants to embrace. In larger garden environments, you might look to oversee the emergence of scrub habitat for songbirds. Each garden’s size, soil and position will determine the best ways to renature.
Renaturing will also look different to different people, so start small and do what you’re comfortable with at first. Take stock of what is in your garden before you begin your renaturing journey.
If you’re being bold, sit back and give your garden a full year to do what it wants to do. Maybe mow paths through your lawn instead of the whole lawn. Swap your mower for a scythe. Watch for what wildflowers emerge. If you’re worried about what the neighbours think, add a sign explaining what you’re doing.
Putting up a notice that says ‘Bee-friendly: renatured garden’ will make your adventure in renaturing something that others might become curious about. Speak to them, explain about renaturing and spread the word. Talk about the ways in which you’re making the world a little wilder, and of the wildlife that has appeared in your garden. Just don’t call it rewilding.
James Canton is director of wild writing at the University of Essex.
