​

In case you were forwarded this email by a friend and you would like to make sure you receive your own copy of my future newsletter, please head over to patrickmayfield.com where you can subscribe for yourself.

​

427 words | 2 minutes read | rapid transformation

The Shire, Middle Earth, nr Oxford, UK

Thursday, 2;35 pm

Hi Reader,

Last autumn, around my birthday, my daughter took me to a farm in the Sussex Weald.

It was a rather more exciting birthday treat than it might sound.

The farm was the 3,500-acre Knepp estate, family home of Charlie Burrell. Over 20 years ago, he and his wife, Isobella Tree, were struggling to manage the farm using normal intensive farming methods.It was losing money. It was not working. Farm subsidies were more geared towards less boggy and productive land than was the case in that part of Sussex.

Then the Burrells did something brave. Charlie and Isobella decided to step back and allow nature to reclaim most of the estate. Among several initiatives, they introduced a herd of longhorn cattle. They allowed pigs to roam most of the Northern Block freely.

As I finish reading Isobella Tree’s Wilding, I am struck by the patterns that fade into view. Isobella and Charlie, along with their Advisory Board, realised that they had been missing so much. They reintroduced a keystone species, such as the beaver. Their understanding of oak trees and their care changed radically, and as a result these oaks now thrive. They learned and practised some forgotten fallow approach to the land. Fauna and flora flourished. Experts were amazed at how rapid this happened. Rare species returned to the land.

In summary, wildlife became far more diverse and abundant.

Then came the resistance. Public bodies moved at glacial speed to approve and support, while nature’s discoveries outstripped them. Neighbours were often critical, clinging to nostalgias that are very recent historically of what ‘normal’ British countryside should look like.

Again and again, ecosystems, where they are allowed, recover with speed. Often this natural recovery outstrips our ability to shift mindsets.

As beautiful as this book is, I am left wondering whether Wilding is really about nature, about the revival of the turtle dove.

Is it really the story of blind and stubborn humans?

In our pride, we struggle with any thinking in systems, in ways that allow for multiple interconnections. We insist on trying to fix one thing in isolation from all others. And we usually fail or harm other aspects in the process.

I believe it is time for us to learn humbly the subtle links across all kinds of species. An attitude of humility and awe will better serve us all.

Yours in humble awe,