Wild Kingdom: National Movement to Rewild Britain Gains Momentum with “Map of Dreams”
A grassroots initiative focused on restoring natural habitats is expanding across the United Kingdom, fueled by the launch of Wild kingdom’s interactive “map of dreams.” the platform aims to galvanize communities, businesses, and individuals to actively participate in nature recovery efforts, building on the success of the WildEast project in East Anglia.
WildEast originated five years ago when three farmers,driven by what they described as “eco-anxiety,” committed to dedicating at least one-fifth of their land to nature. Since then, the movement has garnered thousands of pledges to rewild gardens, school grounds, and commercial properties, demonstrating a growing public desire to reverse biodiversity loss.
now, the association is scaling its impact with a national version of its digital map, encouraging broader participation in restoration projects. Individuals can register pledges and share visual documentation,advice,and success stories – effectively creating digital “witness statements” to the ongoing recovery of the natural world.
“We all have a tremendous debt to nature by way of how we’ve farmed, managed land and consumed,” explained hugh Crossley, also known as Lord Somerleyton, and a co-founder of wildeast. “Nature,like us,thrives on the very thing we have deprived it of – wild space and connectivity.” He characterized Wild Kingdom as “the next great leap – one map to bind us all,” emphasizing that the initiative is driven by collective action rather than individual efforts.
Crossley has personally transformed a quarter of his 2,023-hectare (5,000-acre) Somerleyton estate into a haven for biodiversity, while simultaneously maintaining food production, including carbon-
intensive arable farming. He also highlighted the work of other early adopters, such as John Wheeler, who left the music industry to establish Five Rod farm in Suffolk to produce no-dig vegetables for local markets, said, “Wild kingdom is very much in line with what I’m doing, trying to make this a more natural space.” Wheeler transitioned to vegetable farming after leaving the music industry during lockdown and expressed his pride in being part of the movement.
Local communities are also embracing the Wild Kingdom concept. The village of Wenhaston, Suffolk, has expanded its longstanding volunteer group dedicated to managing its five commons into “Wilder Wenhaston.” This group conducted a complete wildlife audit, identifying both thriving local species and those in decline, such as frogs, toads, and hedgehogs. The audit also revealed previously unknown ancient oak trees.
“If it ain’t recorded, it doesn’t exist, especially in planning terms,” explained Alan Miller, chair of Wilder Wenhaston. In recent years, the community has collaborated with landowners to plant four new woodlands, restore two ponds, and establish a tree nursery at the local primary school to cultivate native trees and engage a new generation in conservation. This winter, volunteers plan to plant 200 meters of new native hedges to connect existing woodlands.
Miller believes Wild Kingdom will facilitate greater collaboration among community groups and accelerate grassroots action. “In conservation we are always looking at what other folk are doing – someone will come up with a bright idea,” he said, adding a note of caution about larger conservation organizations, which he fears “just get bigger and less effective.”
Olly Birkbeck, another WildEast co-founder, described the organization’s role as providing “the soft tissue that connects up the beating organs of nature recovery – schoolyards, churchyards, farmyards and people’s gardens.” Birkbeck has overseen the restoration of Massingham Heath, a 4,856-hectare area that was ploughed during World War II. Since its recreation – and subsequent doubling in size – the heath has become a vibrant ecosystem.
Birkbeck emphasized that Wild Kingdom is not prescriptive. “It is indeed not for us to say what any one person, community and especially region should do,” he said. “Wild Kingdom and its map of dreams is simply the place to record those efforts and record and map how they might join humans and landscapes, and so inspire others to do the same.”
