Rewilding has become a hot topic in recent years. Put simply, it’s the large-scale restoration of landscapes for the benefit of wildlife. Influential voices from the conservation world have called on us to offer up our own gardens for rewilding too, turning our manicured lawns into mini meadows, and adopting an organic, chemical-free approach. They argue that, taken together, our gardens represent almost 30% of the UK’s total landmass (521,872 hectares/1.2m football pitches), and at community level, our re-wilded gardens could create important wildlife corridors – a lifeline between fragmented woodlands, meadows and other wild habitat.
There have been hard-hitting headlines about biodiversity loss, too. British insect populations are down 64% since 2004 and last summer’s record-breaking drought was devastating to caterpillars, including the small tortoiseshell, peacock and brimstone.
January’s…
