Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm

Product Information

People have a famously soft spot for pigs. Intelligent, inquisitive, imperious, myopic, sociable, gluttonous, grunting, ungainly, it is easy to recognize ourselves in them.” Tree attended Millfield School. [1] She was adopted by an aristocratic British family as a baby. She read Classics, following the advice of author Iris Murdoch and went the University of London. [2] Career [ edit ] The language is sometimes too florid for my taste. At times, I was itching to take out a copy editor's red pencil, to make sentences or passages clearer. This book contains some fantastic nature writing and - its real strength - brutal and unsentimental honesty about the economics of farming, the economics of giving up farming and the compromises involved. It makes a convincing case for wilding (which largely involves leaving land alone; a mix of large grazing herbivores were involved, but there was no control field) and for wilding being incentivised by policy. Which is a good thing.

Wilding Quotes by Isabella Tree - Goodreads Wilding Quotes by Isabella Tree - Goodreads

I learned, too, about the importance of reintroducing keystone species, ranging from pigs (as a substitute for the politically unacceptable wild boar), longhorn cattle (substituting for bison), roe and red deer, the beaver and even - perhaps especially - the humble earthworm. The explanations for the significance of these species gave a fascinating insight into animal behaviour.

Summary

There is a gathering trend in the UK for 'wilding' or re-wilding - returning agricultural landscapes to nature in a (mostly) hands-off way. This is a major and refreshing change from the control-freak, focus-on-a-few-species approach that dominated post-war conservation thinking. This change presumably - surely - started with this book and with what the author and her husband undertook at their farm in West Sussex. To get the chip on my shoulder out of the way: I too would love to inherit a huge family estate in commuting distance of London with a writing shed and a wedding and polo fete business, and stop actively farming it to watch the wildlife return. Isabella and her Charles seem genuinely good eggs, but they're irredeemly posh and I bounced off that a bit, and found myself wondering whether their outlook on the world is entirely realistic. The great concerns of our time – climate change, natural resources, food production, water control and conservation, and human health – all boil down to the condition of the soil.” Methane emissions are lower in biodiverse pasture systems largely because of fumaric acid – a compound that scientists at the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen identified as leading to faster growth and reducing emissions of methane by 70 per cent when added to the diet of lambs. Fumaric acid occurs widely in many plants and herbs of the field and hedgerow, including angelica, common fumitory, shepherd’s purse and bird’s-foot trefoil.”

Wilding by Isabella Tree | Waterstones Wilding by Isabella Tree | Waterstones

Isabella’s lively and evocative biography reveals a story of discovery, ambition and betrayal – touching on some of the greatest wonders of the Victorian era, from the arrival of the first giraffe in London to Gould’s exploration of Australia and his crucial role in Darwin’s theory of natural selection. This must be the most inspirational nature book of the year…a narrative of conservation, courage, vision and miracles…Read this book and marvel.’ Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, ‘The Year’s Best Books on Nature’. Isabella Tree’s remarkable journey takes us to the heart of the remote and beautiful Highlands of Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya – one of the most extraordinary and dangerous regions on earth. Comic and tragic by turns, Islands in the Clouds is her moving story of the Highland people and the changes transforming their world.Never has there been a greater need for writers who can communicate about the environment in such clear, immediate and powerful ways, who can envisage the past as well as the future.