Rewilding for biodiversity and climate resilience
Climate change and biodiversity are linked. Areas with diverse natural habitats and healthy soils provide maximum carbon storage and widest biodiversity, and are most likely to be resilient to changes in climate.
Since 2001, most of the historic Knepp Estate, once intensively farmed, has become a rewilding project where low stocking density animals drive ecological succession.
Rare species like turtle doves and purple emperor butterflies are now breeding; and common species numbers are rocketing.
Is this the way forwards for many more areas of the UK?
HEAL, a relatively new NGO, is crowd-funding to establish areas of about 500 hectares in each area of the UK to follow the rewilding process and provide a reservoir for biodiversity across the country.
This event is part of Reading Climate Festival 2023.
Time: 19:00 BST
