Introduction to Rewilding
Kara Moses
| 14th July 2017
Though mostly aimed at people with access to land such as small-scale landowners, people working in the conservation sector who want to influence their organisation on how they manage their land or talk about conservation; and people who want to make rewilding happen in their local area (e.g. by campaigning for common land to be rewilded, or by starting a community-led project), would also benefit from this new course
Everyone is talking about rewilding at the moment. The debate around it is shaking up the conservation sector and public interest in it is huge, with a growing movement of people advocating the restoration of our degraded ecosystems. But what does it really mean to rewild? And how would you go about doing it if you actually have some land?
The course aims to inform people about the basic principles and practices of rewilding and ecological restoration, and enable people to understand how they might apply them in their own situation
A new short course at the Centre for Alternative Technology - Introduction to Rewilding - is possibly the first of its kind to offer such a practical introduction to rewilding.
The course aims to inform people about the basic principles and practices of rewilding and ecological restoration, and enable people to understand how they might apply them in their own situation - whether that's on land they own themselves or in their local area.
Though mostly aimed at people with access to land such as small-scale landowners, people working in the conservation sector who want to influence their organisation on how they manage their land or talk about conservation; and people who want to make rewilding happen in their local area (e.g. by campaigning for common land to be rewilded, or by starting a community-led project), would also benefit from this new course.
Over three days in August (4th-6th) the course will cover:
What is rewilding, and why is it necessary?
Key concepts and issues such as ecological drivers (vegetation, herbivores, carnivores etc), restoration, connectivity, scale, policy, regulations and governance
Basic land management - livestock and grazing, fencing, regulations, common challenges
Case studies, with local site visits - what's worked/not worked on the ground
Broader social aspects - community engagement, conflict, rural employment, humankind's disconnected relationship with nature
Practical exercises - opportunity mapping, reconnecting with nature, action planning.
Tutors include Mick Green and Steve Carver, highly knowledgeable rewilding ecologists from Rewilding Britain and the Wildland Research Institute, with video contributions from bestselling author of Feral, George Monbiot, and owner of the Knepp Wildland Project Charlie Burrell.
The weekend will be hosted by writer and rewilder of people Kara Moses who runs courses and organises rewilding events at CAT and elsewhere.
The landscapes around CAT are being restored in many ways, from pine marten and beaver reintroductions to osprey recovery projects and ambitious landscape-scale restoration projects, offering many opportunities to see what's happening on the ground.
It's sure to be an extremely interesting weekend, and if we're really lucky, August in mid Wales may even see some sunshine...
Introduction to Rewilding runs from 4th-6th August at the Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales. More information can be found here. Interested people are encouraged to book by 21st July. Expressions of interest for later dates can be sent to kara.moses@cat.org.uk.