From its iconic industrial heritage, Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Lower Ouseburn Valley has developed a dynamic and rich parallel history of urban nature in the heart of the city.  

Today, Ouseburn is a vibrant cultural landscape, framed by the architecture of its past, layered with a diverse range of dynamic habitats where inner-city Otters feed, Kingfishers complement colourful art and the famous Ouseburn Mute Swans raise their families.

Wild Ouseburn was established to explore, document and celebrate the species present within the valley, to help inform future management of Ouseburn’s wild spaces, and provide an inspiring platform for our local community to engage with the urban wilds that surround us.

At Wild Intrigue CIC, we have dedicated the past decade to working with and exploring various restorative approaches across the UK and Europe, including rewilding, landscape-scale nature restoration, species reintroductions, and nature-friendly farming practices. The inspiration drawn from these projects, stories, people, and wildlife encounters, combined with the deep, shared concern about biodiversity loss, became the catalyst for the creation of Wild Ouseburn.

The Ouseburn Valley has undergone significant transformation throughout its history, transitioning from agricultural land to industrial use, then falling into dereliction before experiencing its current regeneration. During the period of post-industrial decline, wildlife returned to reclaim the valley, creating biodiversity-rich spaces similar to Berlin's urban, post-war wilderness areas known as "brachen." 

The Lower Ouseburn Valley is a keystone in Newcastle’s most significant, urban green network from the River Tyne – known as the Ouseburn Wildlife Enhancement Corridor. Stretching the length of the Ouseburn itself, the corridor flows through historic city parks to outer rural edges of the city. The ‘green corridor’ is a space of urban tranquillity for wildlife and people, but so too is the tidal nature of the lower Ouseburn. It’s ebbs and flows bring dynamism to the inner-city, with wildlife coming and going as it changes.

Increasing interest in regeneration of the area, however, now poses an immediate threat to this vital wildlife corridor. As we acknowledged and explored this threat, we discovered that an incredible number of local people felt the same way - individually. As Aldo Leopold describes: “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds…  An ecologist must either harden their shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of their business, or they must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise.”

Many rewilding and landscape-scale nature restoration projects underway in the UK operate within rural areas, but - through Wild Ouseburn - we are exploring whether similar approaches can be used within urban areas. A landscape-scale approach to our urban nature can be applied by following the three C’s of rewilding; Cores, Corridors and Connectivity. By truly understanding the local risks to wildlife, and by adopting the inspiring stories and methods of rewilding, Leopold’s’ ‘wounds’ can be shared and then collectively addressed as a community.

Following inspiration from Mike Jeffries’ incredible Butterfly and Pond surveys at Ouseburn Farm, standardised wildlife surveys are now undertaken within the Wild Ouseburn project area, by its communities, to identify and record the wildlife present. The data gathered directly informs result-oriented action to protect and expand the opportunities for nature, and celebrate this bounty of wildlife.

The greatest impediment to rewilding is imagining it. Wild Ouseburn aims to be a local, cohesive, community-driven example that is supported by open knowledge sharing and scientific data to create direct, tangible action.

To find out more about Wild Ouseburn and ways to get involved visit: wildintrigue.co.uk/wildouseburn