A 15 minute film about the trailblazing Knepp rewilding project and some of the wildlife successes. Knepp’s dynamic, rebounding ecosystem is a story of hope, showing how nature can bounce back if we let it.
Hugely inspiring project for me as a rural land manager, I absolutely love it and it’s a great testament to the positive outcome of letting nature take its course. I can’t wait to visit Knepp for ideas on how to take some of this forward on our estate here in Scotland.
@stonemarten1400 Closer to home up here, there's Dundreggan Estate that has undergone a large rewilding program. They probably have very valuable advice and a shorter drive to your estate too. :D
Brilliant to see what Charlie and Isabel have achieved at Knep. It takes real guts to break away from the expected norms of society. The UK is in the bottom 10% of the world for biodiversity. We have a long long way to go. We talk about Africa where grew up, I would encourage you to look at India and what they are doing with their wild spaces. They build natural around core areas where there is absolutely no human interference
The beauty of it all is that human beings made this happen. Absolutely stunning. Knepp may be THE most profound rewilding effort of our time in terms of how it evolved into what it is today. Brilliant that they are now taking people on safaris; this spectacular project deserves ALL our support!
@@Ottawajames With all due respect, I think you need to rethink everything you've ever been told about human beings' relationship with this planet as people have had a *very* long history of enhancing wildland habitats for other forms of life in a multitude of different ways. Knepp is but one example of this although it is quite another world from what I'm about to mention. It is a modern effort in the face of intense corruption wherein dedicated individuals put their time and energy into an extremely important project of land revitalization. But for THOUSANDS of years, the native tribes of California physically managed woodland environments for maximum productivity for both people and wildlife. Their perspective was far more aligned with actual reality than the bulk of so-called environmentalists today in that they had a deep understanding of the critical role of disturbance in maintaining the health and fecundity of woodland and grassland ecosystems. It was their controlled burning that literally created the many ancient oak groves throughout the state and helped the vast hills of wildflowers to grow in such abundance. I highly recommend the book Tending The Wild by M. Kat Anderson; it is all about just how profoundly the indigenous people of California stewarded their lands and teaches a vital lesson to the consciousness of today. It is an absolute must-read for those who are truly serious about improving their understanding of real ecology. You'll find that most if not all indigenous perspectives consistently look upon the Earth as a garden to be tended to, *never* as a separate world that would be better off without people.
@@OttawajamesHumans took several steps… letting their animals roam the land at will, culling them to keep their population in check and have meat, maybe pelts too, allowing the land and critters to do their bit without too much interference and with a lot of observation, introducing people through their safaris and social media to the idea, progress, and experience. I’d say that is a lot, and not an easy thing for people to do… stay mostly hands off.
It shows what a change of thinking can achieve in a relatively short space of time. When you see the return and rapid increase of species such as Nightingale and Turtle Dove, you wonder what the large well known conservation bodies have been doing all these years, there must be millions of nature lovers like myself, who have never heard a nightingale or seen a turtle dove.
What you've achieved at Knepp is spectacularly impressive, and now I think a beacon of inspiration for many others the world over. Thank you, and long may it continue!
The Eurasian Bobcat has been considered as a possible apex predator reintroduction back into the UK, particularly for areas with runaway dear populations.
I love Knepp and walk there quite often, to sit quietly and watch the flocks of birds and hear the hum of insects is so satisfying. I find it a huge comfort to know there's this refuge for wildlife free from nasty chemicals where things are allowed to take there natural course.
This is so inspiring. I have a relative who is a PhD agriculturist who has been studying soil health for decades. Rewinding is probably the best thing many areas in our struggling world could use to lasting benefit. We all need a bit of the wild in our experience. This lifts my heart today with hope that we can start caring for our environment rather than destroying it.
I'm not a conservationist by trade but I've been coming to Knepp for the last 5 years regularly. I love the environment there. It feels pure, peaceful and respectful. A healing environment for humans and wildlife. In the summer I regularly stay in the beautiful campsite, swim in the lake and get some delicious meat from the farm shop. Many thanks to all involved with the project! I hope you go from strength to strength and that other landowners follow your example!
I’m heading up a Rewilding project at our local church and whilst it’s only going to be a small pocket of nature taking over we are encouraging local children’s groups to get involved making bug hotels and visit during the year to see how things change. Inspiring the next generation is wonderful and we hope they’ll take what they learn with them to expand the idea throughout their lives.
Wouldnt it be amazing if rewilding routes from top to bottom left to right were allowed to flourish like Knepp has done so nature could be again there to be and us humans could walk it again from top to bottom a route of pure wild again. Good for the soul.
It's great, a testament to hard work and simple, achievable ethics. Let Nature run and manage sensibly. Wild, natural Britain is the Britain we know and love best. It is truly as itself. ❤❤
100%WOW and exactly the way forwards for Conservation in the UK. Humans have taken so much from the wild the only answer can be to give back to the wild and to adopt a feed the hand that feeds approach towards how we support nature to restore itself. Meddle as little as possible and watch how nature restores itself and believe that it will do it SOO MUCH quicker than any human or scientist thinks is possible ❤ LOVE this project SOO MUCH.
I also read your book about rewilding Knepp - it was and is inspirational. The film just scratches the surface, but the it's great to visualize landscapes that words in the book can't fully describe.
Heartwarming lessons for nature and land custodians worldwide- we face these same challenges in Zimbabwe, Africa - thank you for your inspiring presentation #kneppflix #letnature #allthingsconnected
This is a wonderful story. And I have read Isabella Tree's book, which must be getting quite old now. The story of Knepp is almost too good to be true. One thing is, that rewilding suits their particular environment, and what was their agrarian landscape, the soil etc, as they say. So may not suit everywhere. But the results in terms of new species and biodiversity speak for themselves. I look forward to being able to see the movie. Thanks so much for posting 🙂
Wonderful. This is how it should be done. I despair for our nature around the UK, but this project is a wonderful opportunity for our nature to thrive. Oh how i wish more landowners would get on board with this.
This is a galvanizing vision which I hope inspires more re-wilding. One problem arises for me, mind you - this kind of project is a "luxury" wealthy landowners alone can spearhead. Most citizens struggle monthly for mere survival. Only the top tier of landowners can live in this sort of way. The wealthy aren't always so altruistic.
It's an impressive turn around in wild life. It's not the only model for Rewilding and maybe more suited to the lowlands than the uplands. However, it's excellent work and so hope - filling. It might be as far into rewilding as the south of England could stomach, but we can do more. Best of luck to knepp. 💚🌳🐛
Beautiful, inspiring, wonderful, and very interesting indeed. 🌿🦔🌳🪵🐂🍂🪺🪻🪷💦🐖🌼☀️🦌Thank you for this remarkable experiment and for sharing it with the world!
Just read the book after my daughter gave it to me for Christmas. More than a few times I was close to tears with hope that this kind of amazing project is taken up by landowners who are trying to farm areas of the Uk that require constant intervention and expense. Love the fact that the Jays bury acorns in scrub which protects the saplings that grow until they become mature trees - no expensive plastic protection or fencing needed. This project is so inspiring and we are hoping to visit this year.
We have to make room for nature on our overcrowded little island. Knepp is an incredible vision and achievement. As was said in the film, we need to know these places exist. And then use the knowledge to spread this wonderful project and save our biodiversity.
Anyone involved with conservation or support of nature needs to study and copy this amazing project. All politicians should watch this video and ensure that this project is repeated throughout the whole of the UK.
Great story. What about exotic weeds? I have a farm in New Zealand and I could do this on small bits of it. But the weeds that come up are terrible! And they're from the UK and other places: Gorse, thistles, invasive grasses and shrubs. And the control of them is time consuming and expensive. Is this a problem at Knepp?
I’m asking the same question. How do I sit on my hands and let Japanese hops, porcelain berry, Chinese silver grass, etc, etc take over our native plant species here in PA, USA. They don’t play fair and will soon become a monoculture. I like what Knepp has done; glad it works and is a gift to nature and all of us.
Doddington Hall near me has ‘rewilded’ and the old arable fields are full of creeping and spear thistle and ragwort. The cattle are grazing in these fields. It looks terrible.
I am in NZ. I think you just have to experiment. You need large areas, set aside. Knepp is a whole farm (you can check the size) .. then introduce appropriate species, grazers (there are animals that will eat gorse) ... you do not say what the invasive grasses and shrubs are. But bear in mind what NZ used to be like before human occupation - that is what you would aspire to return to (as they have done at Knepp).. Possibly forest (depending on where you are), either lowland or upland. No animals at all. Only birds ... its a different scenario here in NZ. Much food for thought in your question 🙂
@@barbarathomas2561 I've been thinking about this reply. I've read Isabella Tree's book on rewilding. They have about 3000 acres I think. I don't understand what you mean when you say introduce animals that eat gorse. The only one I can think of is goats, and they eat everything else as well. It would have been mainly forest where I am - South Auckland. Invasive grasses/shrubs: Yorkshire Fog, Kikyu, Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil, tobacco weed, moth plant, as well as gorse, barberry, blackberry, pampas grass etc. etc. I can't see how just letting things go - from a bare paddock say - will result in anything but a weed infested mess.
Fabulous and heartwarming to see. At first I wondered about the apparent absence of apex predators... but you do have one - man. Thanks - from Colorado USA.
They do, currently the pond is large area fenced off from the outside, mostly so the Beavers are allowed to work properly and build a large enough population to where they don’t get hunted out.
Am amazing success story beautifuly told. However... if this project were to be expanded nationally, how could enough food be provided to feed the population? The owners said that the soil at Knepp was unsuitable for agricultural production, but many areas of the UK have prime agricultural soil. Should these be rewilded too?
I understand what Knepp is all about but on a minuscule scale in my world of 10 acres. I have about an acre & a half, fenced around the house & when the dogs were 'locked in" & weeds were 7 or 8ft tall, I couldn't see them so I got the tractor & cut 2 runs, 4ft wide & about 200ft long. Sounds a lot but out of 10 acres it was very little considering the rest of the land was just wild & natural. What happened opened my eyes in an unexpected way & yet somehow obvious when you stop & think. I cut this path through the weeds. All around were butterflies, moths, toads, frogs, lizards & snakes to name a few, without even mentioning the birdlife & more. When I'd finished the cut, on both sides of it were still clouds of butterflies & grasshoppers +++ & I looked down the path of cut weeds & there was nothing..just cut weeds on the ground. I then woke up to having just destroyed a section of biodiversity...to be able to see my dogs. That was about 3 or 4 years ago. Today, as I write, those weeds are up again & I don't touch them, can't see dogs in there but I leave the weeds alone. Hey we can call them weeds but they're all just wild plants & there for a reason.
I am encouraged by more and more societies educating their young girls and women. The end result is a more thoughtful person that is not only expected to marry and make a family. It's that these people can express their ideas in more ways. But as a consequence, many countries are seeing a decrease in human fertility, which sounds dire, but really it means simply that women are choosing to delay marriage or parenthood and may have many fewer children in their lifetime. And these women are able to contribute more financially and really offer a bit more choice in their own lives and their children if they choose to have any. But that is what I am most hopeful about. Humanity changing it's dynamics. People deciding to delay parenting and have one or two instead of four or five children. That delay and those decrease in numbers decrease the human impact. It takes time. But it is not as slow as it appears. it's really the most sustainable climate change factor we need to drive forward. The change in human demographics associated with the changes in female life expectations and choices.
How do you keep from overgrazing on your wild preserve? Are you keeping out large herds of grazers, keeping cattle from eating everything by the creeks, keeping out goats?
Fascinating. As was mentioned, on pockets of marginal land this possibly makes sense and offers a potentially positive way forward where there is an opportunity to restore some biodiversity on a wider scale. However, we still need to produce food and what Knepp produces in the form of restored and enhanced plant and species diversity, commendable though it is, will not feed us. We still need efficient and, hard though it is for many to accept, intensive agriculture.
We have an awful lot of marginal land in this country, where the farmers struggle to survive, which could follow a similar route. And for those farmers, adopting ever more intensive techniques is not the answer. Also, without insects, water conservation and soil replenishment, how do we maintain intensive farming? Rewilding doesn't provide all the answers, but at least it gives us hope.
Have you done any research into permaculture? You’d find a lot of interest in it regarding ability to feed many from a small area using a lot of biodiversity. I recommend Geoff Lawton and Andrew Million to start off with.
I've read the book and am very impressed and inspired, though it is hypocritical to allow foxhunting on your land, surely you of all people would understand the importance of predators.
Natural selection of the more durable and adapted types of plants and animals. Because we all know that with climate changing fast, this decades peatlands may well be next decades deciduous forests followed by someday semi-tropical forests in a mere two decades and maybe back to deciduous or even evergreen forests in 50 or 60 years as temperature and rainfall amounts migrate around the world. Most important is to find ways to hold water longer on the land. Regardless of the temperature ranges and the soil types, water vs no water is the life or death criteria of a wilderness.
It's Achilles heel is lack of predators. Prey possess different behavioural traits, and will disproportionately breed, affecting the growth of trees and plants in general. So it's not exactly an environment pre intensive farming.
The owners are acting as the apex predators at the moment, as they say in the prog. Culling to keep the numbers down. They sell the meat, I know - another income stream.
This is an important film. Please tone down the background music and make sure the voices are clear. . It is very difficult to hear fully the message they are bringing. Thank you!
Great story, but please tell your production team to lower the loudness of the distracting music track. Had to have volume high to understand the narration.
Yes definitely! Especially up in the Scottish highlands where the deer population is completely out of control and causes the landscape to be barren and dead in many areas
Fabulous project!, love the hands-off approach, however you have made it only accessible to people with money. I’m a nature conservationist and a zoology student with two children, and our family of four would have to pay 360£ for one night of camping and one safari tour, and children under 12 are banned from your campsite. Conservation should be accessible to everyone and not be run as a commercial business by the privileged for the privileged. Where are your student and Universal Credit discounts? and your engagement with the vulnerable people of society?
Obviously the grazers are not behaving exactly in the same way they would have done centuries ago, because there is an absence of predators to keep them on their toes. Once you return lynx, bears and wolves to the landscape then you'd see some differences for sure.
Been there me self and sadly no, they do have other predators in the forms of Foxes, Badgers, Polecats, etc but nothing like Wolves. They do occasionally get visits from Eagles though.
@@Kingsaxxy3872 Wolves have not been reintroduced into England. (Can you imagine the outcry if that was ?). So no, that apex predator is not permitted.
Rubbish about the weeds. They will just take over completely unless grazed before seeding. They would not be there if the land hadn’t been farmed intensively. Chemical fertilisers and herbicides result in weed growth and it’s virtually impossible to restore the land to its original organic state. I know I’m doing it on a small scale.
@@stonedape2406 plants described in the1959 Weeds Act. Also, for me, a few more that livestock don’t eat and therefore just proliferate, which are kept in natural balance or don’t exist on land that has always been organic, such as greater plantain or creeping buttercup.
I wonder how much culling they have to do. What about separating the Bulls and Stags in rutting season? Be honest, this is not "rewilding" it's "zoo-keeping".
Why not post a video telling how much this cost / is costing the public & how much food production has been lost? I don't mean lost from what you were producing before jumping on the green gravy train, but compared to what a place the same size but farmed competently could have produced. Look forward to the public reaction to the truth. 👍
lol at this self congratulatory video, this is only possible because of a complete lack of apex predators which have all been extirpated or made extinct. why dont you rewild with some wolves, lynx, bears etc
You can only do this if you don't have exotic invasive species. If we do this in Portugal, in two years the eucaliptos and the mimosas and other acacia will take absolute control
It's just so beautiful, what a lovely story... i love Wilding so much id love to live that lifestyle with my daughters and im sure my pony that was a wild rescue would love that lifestyle back also in the right enviroment 🌳🦗🦋🪲🐞🐝🪱🦉🦫🦇🐿🐴🦊🐾🦔🦦🐗🦌
