Over Easter I spent a couple of inspirational and restorative days visiting The Knepp wilding project in Sussex - see https://knepp.co.uk/. Such an exciting place, and so uplifting to see wildlife bouncing back here in defiance of the sad declines we see and hear about all around. The air was full of birdsong - warblers like blackcaps, whitethroat, garden warbler, chiffchaff and glorious nightingales, exultant in the rich mosaic of sallow scrub, rough grassland, thick hedgerows and thorny scrub, and wonderful veteran oak trees. The vegetation is 'managed' by free roaming Longhorn cattle, Tamworth pigs, Exmoor ponies and red, fallow and roe deer, mimicking the herbivore population with which our native vegetation would have evolved millenia ago. The photo was taken on a dawn safari which was like a sound bath in the birdsong and well worth the 5.30am start!
I'm feeling very fired up about the potential for such land management to make big differences to wildlife, soil health, carbon capture and human well-being, and I'm keen to bring this into my work, adapted of course as necessary to smaller areas without large grazing herbivores! If you are also inspired by this prospect, I'd love to work with you.