The complete collection of articles from British WIldlife‘s acclaimed Wilding for Conservation series – an unflinching appraisal of the realities of rewilding in Britain.

Running from 2021 to 2025, the Wilding for Conservation series took a deep dive into the phenomenon that is rewilding, with special focus on its development in Britain and connection with alternative approaches to protecting and restoring biodiversity. Through 27 articles, the series scrutinised and celebrated all aspects of rewilding, from the truths behind the impacts of large carnivores to the options for restoring tree cover at scale.

We are now delighted to bring together all articles in a single e-book, Wilding for Conservation: An Exploration of Rewilding in Britain, featuring 27 thought-provoking articles, exploring all elements of rewilding in a British context with perspectives from some of Britain’s leading conservationists, researchers and natural-history writers.

Buy now for the special launch price of £16.99 (RRP £18.99)

Contents

• Foreword, Bernard Mercer
• Introduction: Letting nature take back control, Rob Fuller and Guy Freeman

1. Wilding as we find it – diverse views and approaches
   – A kaleidoscope of approaches to rewilding in Britain, Sara King and Emma Oldham
   – What if Wolves don’t change rivers, or the Lynx lacks bite? Rethinking a rewilding orthodoxy, Hugh Webster
   – The New Forest: shaped by the past and a model for the future, Jonathan Spencer
   – Rewilding: a landscape history perspective, Tom Williamson
   – A spectrum-based approach to rewilding: can it improve perceptions of rewilding in farming communities? Benedict Dempsey
   – Planting to assist recovery, Max Coleman
   – Rewilding and environmental economics, Jonathan Spencer
   – Is conservation ready to go wild? Perspectives from the eNGOs, Patrick Barkham
2. Wilding the wooded landscape
   – Is rewilding relevant to contemporary forest policy? Norman Dandy
   – European strict forest reserves as a form of passive rewilding, Keith J. Kirby
   – A long-term perspective on rewilding woodland, George F. Peterken
   – Rewilding and the woodland ground flora, George F. Peterken and Keith J. Kirby
   – Can wildwoods help us avert climate disaster? Ellie Crane
   – Wild oakwoods: can they exist in lowland England? Aljos Farjon
   – Rewilding in the Scottish Highlands – natural regeneration of Caledonian pinewoods versus planting, Ron Summers
   – The return of the wildwood, Adrian C. Newton
3. Wilding in different contexts
   – In natural processes we trust: rewilding and freshwater-wetland restoration, Carl Sayer, Oliver van Biervliet, Reagan Pearce and Theodore Mills
   The wilding debate and the coastal zone: never the twain shall meet? Graham Weaver
   The urban wild: a perspective from northern England, Ian D. Rotherham
   The implications for Orthoptera of grazing in arable wilding schemes, Tim Gardiner and Dorothy Casey
   Pulse grazing in rewilding projects and the effects on invertebrate diversity – a case study of Butcherlands, Graeme Lyons, Mark Monk-Terry and Malcolm Ausden
4. Wilding: future directions
   – Rewilding in a changing climate – risks and opportunities, James Pearce-Higgins
   – Rewilding and intervention: complementary philosophies for nature conservation in Britain, Rob Fuller and James Gilroy
   – Rewilding: time to get down off the fence? Steve Carver and Ian Convery
   – British bison: nature and climate ambition in the UK, Evan Bowen-Jones
   – Rewilding and restoring: two distinct yet complementary approaches to nature recovery, Nathalie Pettorelli and James M. Bullock
   – Letting nature take back control: a paradigm shift in UK nature conservation? Rob Fuller and Guy Freeman