Rewilding is not the return to some fixed point of time where everything was perfect. It’s a process of healing. The English landscape is broken; many species are extinct or heading that way, largely due to mass destruction of natural habitat.
But if we are to succeed in arresting and reversing these declines, we need landscape scale restoration of natural habitat.
“We have discovered a total reversal in the philosophy of overcoming nature to survive. In order to survive now we have to protect it.”
Since Olly, naturalist and co-founder of the charity Wild East, took over the estate in 2017 we’ve restored over 1000 acres of heathland. Now it it’s teaming with wildflowers and wild creatures, some of which are red-list species, as well as the larger, more charismatic animals such as the herd of Konik ponies, the wild pigs and the goats, the architects of the landscape. The best way to support large projects like this by coming here and HAVING FUN.
“We want to have fun in nature and remember the sense of joy.”
Little Massingham has undertaken 1200 acres of rewilding, making it a nationally important site for nature restoration, alongside our regional neighbours Wild Kenhill, Westacre and Somerleyton estates. The aim is to quadruple insect life and improve natural connectivity over a landscape scale, so that nature does not cling on to life in ever more isolated spots, but is able to migrate between habitats in order to feed, reproduce, and escape predators or disease.
England is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. For a nation of nature lovers, this is bad news. The reason for this is that we have destroyed 75% of all natural habitat within as many years, in order to sustain our perverse food system. It is our great ambition to halt and reverse this devastating decline in nature.