Wilding
by Isabella Tree · first published 2018
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Vivid, well-told account of rewilding a British farm, changing how readers think about what nature needs beyond simple forests-versus-agriculture framing; suits readers curious about ecology and land management.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This a blow by blow and month by month account of how a well-managed, but totally unprofitable estate farm in 21st century Britain was managed back to nature, to how it might have been if never touched by human hand. Wilding is a reference book which the interested will return to again and again. To this end, it has been comprehensively indexed and contains an extensive bibliography. Isabella Tree shows herself (and her partner and the estate staff) to be totally practical and competent. But the real magic of the book is in that it can be taken up and left down and opened at any page. It is il
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A wonderful and colourful book on the subject of rewilding is: Wilding by Isabella Tree [1]. It's made me really want to do what you, she, and her husband, have done, though unfortunately my dank city flat lacks the sufficient acreage. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38891828-wilding
on “BirdNET-Pi: Automated, locally run bird sound identification and tracking” ↗https://www.amazon.com/Wilding-Return-Nature-British-Farm/dp...
on “Alarming study shows massive insect loss” ↗I guess I’ll add to the female authors being suggested under this comment. Wilding - Isabella Tree. Changed how I think about what nature needs, away from the simplistic “more forests! Less agriculture!” viewpoint. The Female Man - Joanna Russ. Forget all the ‘makeup is empowering!’…
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗In the UK there have been fairly successful movements to stop councils trimming verges, since it promotes wildflowers and insects. This was pre-covid, but probably it's helped. You should check out Wilding by the serendipitously named Isabella Tree, if you've not already.
on “No net insect abundance and diversity declines across US” ↗I certainly wasn't contending that current rural areas are more natural (Isabella Tree's book Wilding is really interesting on what "natural" would have meant in the very long term), but if you're talking about the 13th century - which is one of the maps mentioned above and the kind of timescale I was…
on “A new map of medieval London” ↗I'm reading Wilding by Isabella Tree that contests this view of the past flora in the British Isles. The impact of megafauna on the development of woodland is seemingly not accounted for in the accepted view of the historic…
on “Redwood World – Pictures and Locations of Redwoods in the British Isles” ↗There is also the accompanying book called Wilding, by Isabella Tree. Rewilding is the technique that Knepp promotes, and arguably got into popular culture.
on “Downsides to planting trillions of trees” ↗