Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Wilding
- The Return of Nature to a British Farm
- Narrated by: Isabella Tree
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
Buy Now for £11.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
In Wilding, Isabella Tree tells the story of the ‘Knepp experiment’, a pioneering rewilding project in West Sussex, using free roaming grazing animals to create new habitats for wildlife. Part gripping memoir, part fascinating account of the ecology of our countryside, Wilding is, above all, an inspiring story of hope.
Winner of the Richard Jefferies Society and White Horse Book Shop Literary Prize.
This audio edition is read by the author, Isabella Tree.
Forced to accept that intensive farming on the heavy clay of their land at Knepp was economically unsustainable, Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell made a spectacular leap of faith: they decided to step back and let nature take over. Thanks to the introduction of free roaming cattle, ponies, pigs and deer – proxies of the large animals that once roamed Britain – the 3,500 acre project has seen extraordinary increases in wildlife numbers and diversity in little over a decade.
Extremely rare species, including turtle doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons, lesser spotted woodpeckers and purple emperor butterflies, are now breeding at Knepp, and populations of other species are rocketing. The Burrells’ degraded agricultural land has become a functioning ecosystem again, heaving with life – all by itself.
Personal and inspirational, Wilding is an astonishing account of the beauty and strength of nature, when it is given as much freedom as possible.
Highly Commended by the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize.
Critic reviews
"The remarkable story of an astounding transformation." (George Monbiot, author of Feral)
"A passionately personal, robustly argued and uplifting book.... One of the landmark ecological books of the decade." (Sunday Times 'Books of the Year')
"A poignant, practical and moving story of how to fix our broken land, this should be conservation's salvation; this should be its future; this is a new hope." (Chris Packham)
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about Wilding
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Loves Reading
- 26-07-19
Favourite Read of 2019
This is my favourite read/listen of 2019. I expected it to be an interesting record of how the rewilding project at Knepp came about and developed, and the details on this were fascinating. What I hadn't expected was for the book to be so stunningly written. Isabella Tree has a wonderful way with words, evoking Knepp, the habitats and the wildlife, beautifully. She also narrated the book very well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
23 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 13
- 14-02-20
I didn't need a lecture
I only made it about a third of the way through this. A few months later I find myself accepting that there are so many books I'd rather read I'm never likely to come back and force myself to complete the chore of finishing this. I bought this expecting it to be a joyful read with the author enthusiastically sharing her passion for wildlife but the joy never came. Instead I felt harangued about the failures of humanity to see our impact on nature with many tragic consequences. I accept the truthfulness of this and there may have been more positivity in later chapters I never got to but I felt like the tone of it was one of being told off rather than encouragement to do better. Ultimately it wasn't what I was looking for.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
22 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alex Gray
- 15-03-19
A practical, reasoned approach to rewinding
Wilding is a really useful overview of the issues surrounding rewinding and views them in a pragmatic, optimistic way. As an ecologist and environmental science lecturer, I highly recommend this book, particularly for a post Brexit Britain.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A Smith
- 23-06-19
Revelatory and fascinating
George Monbiot’s “Feral” completely changed the way I view the British countryside, revealing it to be largely an ecological desert with nature holding on in relatively undisturbed places such as roadside verges.
Wilding builds on this by telling the remarkable story of how quickly and cheaply nature can be restored to a former arable farm simply by letting go. For me the most interesting revelation was that “conservation” as we know it is overly focussed on maintaining what is left whereas rewilding is all about bringing back what’s been lost. Isabella Tree’s book is very convincing in describing why this is so important.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rob Mellowship
- 14-08-19
Not for the fainthearted
This book should be must red by politicians, farmers, conservationists and all who have an interest in wildlife and the environment. It is both challenging and inspirational. Excellent the only disappointment was to finish it. If we are to combat the climate crisis and to restore the natural life of the UK, this book has much to teach us.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Graham Johnson
- 11-03-19
Amazing
Opens your ears and eyes to the real silence of Nature in your area, so sad and yet inspiring, life is change, Isabella explains how a u turn can be started.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rickster
- 26-07-19
Brilliant
One of the most optimistic books I've ever read. Let's hope the idea catches on.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- colin mckenzie
- 15-02-20
Fantastic story. Dull experience.
I am full of admiration for what Isabella Tree and her husband have achieved. But this book reads like an encyclopaedia and gets progressively more preachy
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarah M.
- 22-07-19
Inspiring and worrying in equal measure
Everyone who cares about the future should read this,very well researched and honestly written,although it is a shame to learn
that they still allow fox hunting on the estate
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- D Reed
- 09-12-19
Fantastic reading.
This is a book every school teacher and child should read so as to save our species and planet. It is a very well read book by Isabella, she had me glued to this wonderful book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful