‘Next great leap’: grassroots movement to wild East Anglia goes national | Rewilding
A grassroots movement to wild a fifth of East Anglia is going national with the launch of Wild Kingdom’s ‘Dream Map’ to collect pledges and connect communities, businesses and ordinary people seeking to revive nature.
WildEast was created five years ago when three “environmentally conscious” farmers decided to dedicate at least a fifth of their land to nature. Since then, thousands of people have committed to rewilding gardens, school grounds, communities and businesses.
The group has now created a national version of its dream map to encourage more people across Britain to take action to restore nature. Anyone can get involved and share photos, tips and success stories, in what farmers call digital “testimonials” of nature restoration.
Hugh Crossley, or Lord Somerleyton, co-founder of WildEast, said: “We all owe a huge debt to nature because of the way we have farmed, managed the land and consumed. Nature, like us, thrives on what we have deprived it of: wild space and connectivity.
“Wild Kingdom is the next big step forward: a map that will connect us all. It’s not about one person or place, but about thousands of acts of care and imagination.”
Since setting up WildEast with fellow landowners Olly Birkbeck and Argus Hardy, Crossley has dedicated a quarter of his 2,023 hectare (5,000 acre) estate to biodiversity, while continuing to produce food including carbon negative wheat and beans. Meanwhile, 904 species of moths, 33 red-listed bird species and six types of endangered amphibians have been recorded on his estate, which includes the Fritton Lake ecotourism business.
There have been many pledges of action for wildlife from other quarters too, including Hadleigh High School in Suffolk, which is creating a pond and wildlife area in the corner of one of its playing fields. Katy Miller, modern languages teacher at Hadleigh, said: “There is a lot of new housing being built around our site, so we are keenly aware that the space for wildlife is shrinking and we need to do all we can to rewild it. »
Crossley visited the school recently and Miller said the students’ eco team was inspired by Wild Kingdom. “The eco team doesn’t just want to talk about it – they want to make a difference in restoring nature,” she said. “The more people come together to do it and are inspired to participate, hopefully the more space nature gains, the more connectivity it gets and the more it can recover.”
Victor Hills, 11, a member of the eco team, said: “We are very lucky to have two fields and we have funds for a fairly large pond and wildlife reserve. We think it will help the moths, the badgers, the hedgehogs, the fish, the frogs.”
Victor said he was inspired by other commitments to nature on the Wild Kingdom dream map. “What people are doing with their gardens or the land they own is absolutely astonishing. In Britain, if we get to 20% [of land for nature] I don’t think we should stop there. We should have more lakes, more ponds, create more natural spaces and open more national parks.
Farmers have pledged to support WildEast, including Cameron Wheeler, who leases 0.8 hectares on which he grows no-dig vegetables for local veg boxes and restaurants at Five Rod Farm in Suffolk. “Wild Kingdom is very much in line with what I do, trying to make it a more natural space,” said Wheeler, who left the music industry to focus on growing vegetables after lockdown. “I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Local communities committing to action on the Dream Map include the village of Wenhaston, Suffolk, whose long-standing group of volunteers looking after its five commons have expanded their ambitions under the name Wilder Wenhaston in recent years.
Observing local wildlife evolved into a wildlife audit, which identified vital local nature, but also spotted once-common species struggling in the village, such as frogs, toads and hedgehogs. A remarkable tree audit has identified previously unknown century-old oaks.
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“If it’s not recorded, it doesn’t exist, especially in terms of planning,” said Alan Miller, president of Wilder Wenhaston.
In recent years, villagers have joined forces with local landowners to plant four new woods, restore two ponds and create a nursery at the primary school to provide locally sourced native trees and inspire a new generation of tree planters. This winter, volunteers will plant 200 meters of new native hedges to connect the woodlands.
“If you have volunteers who are willing to do it, you have to keep them there, otherwise they will leave and find something else to do,” Miller said.
He said Wild Kingdom would help more community groups connect and take more effective grassroots action. “When it comes to conservation, we always look at what others are doing – someone will have a brilliant idea,” Miller said. “I worry that the largest conservation organizations are simply getting bigger and less effective. »
Birkbeck, co-founder of WildEast, said: “WildEast is about the soft tissues that connect the beating organs of natural recovery – schoolyards, graveyards, farmyards and folk gardens. »
Birkbeck restored the 4,856 hectares of Massingham Heath, plowed during the Second World War. Since being recreated – and doubling in size since WildEast was created – the moor has become “a wonderful kaleidoscope of color and botanical biodiversity”.
“It is not our place to say what a person, a community and especially a region should do,” Birkbeck said. “Wild Kingdom and its dream map are simply the perfect place to record these efforts and record and map how they might reach humans and landscapes, and thus inspire others to do the same.”
