NERC: Research rewilding to help farms adapt to cuts and climate change

  • by: Frances Donnelly
  • recipient: Professor Duncan Wingham, head of the National Environment Research Council (NERC)

"It feels like the land has been set free," commented a visiting journalist. Across thousands of green acres, deer and cattle roam, butterflies flutter, buzzards hover, and rodents scurry, weaving through the rich landscape which they all thrive in - and help to shape. The land's owner, Charlie Burrell, inherited a dairy and arable farm but decided to let the area "rewild", which has resulted in the flourishing of diverse flora and fauna. Knepp Castle Estate is now a shining example of an alternative, sustainable future for the UK's less productive farmland.

"Rewilding" is generally considered a wasteful use of space and resources by the conventional farming community. But in response to such criticisms, Burrell notes he has a highly productive turnover of quality organic meat, and also raises funds through tourism such as camping on his beautiful site. His experimental approach follows the findings of a Dutch ecologist who promotes this longer term approach to farmland. 

Rewilding could be a sustainable way to deal with the future of farming in the UK, helping keep less productive land viable in the wake of funding cuts and climate change. It would allow for a slow turnover of grazing areas, and a mixture of habitat for different wildlife.

More research into exisiting rewilding projects could help to establish how this approach can be applied across the UK. Please sign this petition to ask the National Environmental Research Council (NERC) to fund research into rewilding as part of preparing for future sustainability.


Professor Duncan Wingham,


I am writing today to urge you to ask that you fund research into existing rewilding projects to ascertain whether this method could be used in UK farming.


In the face of climate change and subdidy cuts, it's vital that farming methods develop and adapt. Rewilding may be one of the best ways to achieve the longer term health and productivity of lower production land.


[Your comments]


Please consider funding this vital research.


Sincerely,


[Your Name] 




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