Rewilding Britain

Overview

Rewilding Britain is the UK's best-known rewilding charity. Launched in 2015, it exists to make rewilding a mainstream, credible and accessible route to nature recovery. Its work spans advocacy, public education, policy influence and - most importantly - practical support for the people actually restoring land and sea.

The charity is not a large landowner. Instead it acts as a national coordinator, a campaigner and a storyteller, helping the public, policymakers and landowners understand what rewilding looks like on the ground and why it matters for climate, biodiversity and rural economies.

Mission & Strategy

Rewilding Britain's headline goal is ambitious: at least 30% of Britain's land and sea restored for nature by 2030. Its "Wild by Nature" strategy for 2025-2030 sets out four priorities: normalising rewilding, enabling more people to do it, scaling up successful projects and innovating new finance and governance models.

The charity argues that rewilding is not just an environmental issue. Restored wetlands reduce flooding, native woodlands store carbon, and wildlife-rich landscapes can support nature-based tourism and rural employment. Its messaging consistently stresses that rewilding can work alongside farming, forestry and local communities.

The Rewilding Network

The Rewilding Network is the charity's flagship community programme. By 2025 it connected more than 1,000 land managers, farmers, community groups, NGOs and estates who are actively rewilding across Britain. Members share knowledge, access advice and contribute to the growing evidence base that rewilding can deliver measurable biodiversity and climate benefits.

The network also gives Rewilding Britain the data and stories it needs to influence government. When the charity lobbies for better agri-environment schemes or stronger planning protections, it can point to a real portfolio of working projects rather than relying on theory.

Flagship Projects in the Network

Although Rewilding Britain does not own these sites, it regularly highlights them as evidence of what rewilding can achieve:

• Knepp Castle Estate, West Sussex - Around 951 hectares of former intensive farmland now famous for free-roaming longhorn cattle, Exmoor ponies, tamworth pigs and white storks. Knepp has become a global reference point for low-intervention restoration.
• Wilder Blean, Kent - A 415-hectare partnership between Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust, best known for reintroducing European bison in 2022, the first time the species has roamed Britain in thousands of years.

These and many other Network projects show that rewilding can happen on farmland, woodland, wetlands, moorland and even coastal seas.

How to Support Rewilding Britain

The most direct way to help is to donate or become a regular supporter. Funding pays for the Rewilding Network team, policy work, public events and resources for practitioners. Businesses and landowners can also join the Network to access advice and share their own experience.

Beyond money, you can support Rewilding Britain by responding to its campaigns, attending talks and webinars, and using its case studies when talking to local councillors, farmers or MPs about nature recovery in your area.

Visit the official site at rewildingbritain.org.uk to donate or explore the Rewilding Network.

Related Grange Project Content

We are proud to be a Rewilding Britain Member Project. You can see how our own 80-acre rewilding site in Monmouthshire fits into the wider UK movement on our Rewilding UK page and read practical guidance for landowners in our funding guide.