Rewilding Britain: A Decade of Wild Hope
Britain likes to think of itself as a green and pleasant land, but the countryside tells a harder story.
Britain likes to think of itself as a green and pleasant land, but the countryside tells a harder story. The country is one of the most nature-depleted places on Earth. More than half of its species are in decline, and around 15% are close to disappearing altogether. In 2015 a small group of environmentalists decided that traditional conservation alone could not reverse that slide. They founded Rewilding Britain, the first nationwide organisation dedicated to rewilding and to what it can do for people, wildlife and the climate.
What rewilding means Rewilding Britain defines rewilding as restoring nature on a large scale until it can look after itself, and us, once again. Traditional conservation often protects single species or keeps a habitat fixed in a particular state. Rewilding instead aims to repair the whole web of life. That means restoring habitats and natural processes, such as rivers finding their own course or woodland spreading by seed, and, where appropriate, bringing back species that have been lost. The idea is not to shut people out or abandon farming. The charity wants rewilding to thrive across Britain in ways that reconnect people with the natural world, support local communities and tackle the linked crises of climate change and species extinction. Its current strategy, Wild by Nature, runs from 2025 to 2030 and sets a bold target: helping to rewild 30% of Britain's land and sea by the end of the decade. From niche idea to national movement Over the past decade, rewilding has moved from the margins of environmental debate to the mainstream, and Rewilding Britain has been closely involved in that shift. In 2018 the UK government's 25 Year Environment Plan included ecosystem restoration and highlighted the Knepp Estate in West Sussex as an example. The following year a petition backed by more than 100,000 people led to a parliamentary debate. That debate helped secure the £640 million Nature for Climate Fund, which still supports rewilding projects today. Other policy wins followed. In 2021, after the charity published research on natural regeneration, the government agreed to fund woodland that grows through natural processes as well as conventional tree planting. In 2022 rewilding became eligible for funding under England's Environmental Land Management scheme, which for the first time rewarded land managers for prioritising nature recovery. In Scotland, working through the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, it helped change the Agriculture and Rural Communities Act in 2024 so that farmers can be paid to restore natural processes. Some of the most visible successes involve animals that vanished from Britain long ago. Scotland recognised beavers as a native species in 2019, Wales followed in 2025, and restrictions on wild releases in England were lifted that same year. Soon afterwards, the first legally released beavers returned to the wild at Purbeck Heath in Dorset. In Kent, European bison now roam at Wilder Blean for the first time in about 6,000 years. Rewilding has also found its way into popular culture. The charity advised The Archers on a rewilding storyline, Springwatch broadcast from the rewilding site at Wild Ken Hill, and its beaver-inspired garden won Best in Show at the 2022 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The word rewilding now even has its own sign in British Sign Language.
How the charity works Rewilding Britain does not own large estates. Instead it acts as a catalyst, and its work falls into several strands. The first is the Rewilding Network, launched in 2021 to connect farmers, landowners, community groups and marine projects at every stage of their journey. By 2025 it had grown to more than 1,000 members, who together are restoring over 206,500 hectares of land and 500 square kilometres of sea. The second is influencing policy and practice. The charity challenges governments, decision-makers and landowners to change the laws, policies and practices that hold nature back. Its recent work includes calling for a ban on bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas. The third is funding. The Rewilding Innovation Fund has given £1.38 million to 89 projects, covering everything from feasibility studies for species reintroductions to youth engagement. A separate £100,000 annual Rewilding Challenge Fund supports large, ambitious schemes. Finally, the charity works in partnership. Alongside the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, it helped establish World Rewilding Day through the Global Rewilding Alliance, and it is part of the European Rewilding Network, which links rewilding efforts across the continent. As an independent charity, Rewilding Britain depends on donations from individuals, businesses and charitable foundations. Its staff has grown from a handful of founders to more than 30 people working across the country. Supporting the work One way to help is through Percent For Good, a registered charity founded by Mark Lyttleton that lets people give to groups of vetted causes through a single donation. Rewilding Britain is one of five charities in its Nature and Environment Cause Portfolio, alongside Surfers Against Sewage, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, The Conservation Volunteers and The Rivers Trust. Together they are working to rewild, restore and regenerate Britain's coasts, rivers and woodlands and to strengthen biodiversity. A regular or one-off donation to the portfolio spreads support across all five organisations, which makes it a simple way to help Britain's wild places recover.
Mark Lyttleton
Angel investor, business mentor and speaker. He works with and invests in multiple early stage and growing companies.