Inspiring Rewilding

I took a long overdue trip to the Knepp Castle Estate in West Sussex, 3,500-acres of rewilded farmland, this weekend, and it got me thinking...

Thanks to an inspiring conversation with The Sussex Chamber of Commerce's very own James Gaydon last week, my friends and I took a long overdue trip to the Knepp Castle Estate in West Sussex - 3,500-acres of rewilded farmland.

It’s a fun way to spend a Sunday if you’re like me and love getting mud from head to toe just see a cow with cool horns or a pretty butterfly. (Still not quite sure how I manage to get SO muddy everytime…)
But it got me thinking. 

The rewilding of the land was a ‘process-led’, non-goal-orientated project. The farm was unprofitable due to the structure of the land and what was being asked of it from the current farming methods. Rewilding was pretty much an experiment. One that took years to get support. 

But now, because of such astonishing wildlife successes in such a short time, Knepp is the leading light in conservation. Problems like like soil restoration, flood mitigation, water and air purification, pollinating insects and carbon sequestration have been demonstrably solved at Knepp.

It makes me think about guiding the natural way of things. Not forcing anything; be it land, people, or processes, to do something they are not made for. 

Do the research, take the leap and watch what grows organically. 

It's definitely going to stick in the back of my mind in my personal development conversations this week.