In March, we were fortunate to be invited to Knepp for a guided tour of the estate, followed by an in-depth discussion of the Weald to Waves nature recovery corridor project. Knepp Estate is well known as a pioneer of rewilding in the UK, and has spawned a number of studies, books and documentaries about their approach to nature and land management.
As with many Wildlife Trusts, the area of land managed and influenced by NWT has increased exponentially over the last few years while the number of reserves has risen only slightly. Thus we find ourselves with much bigger blocks of land to manage, not least the Rothbury Estate.
I think we are having a collective awakening that the approach to managing a large area (in some cases approaching landscapes) takes a rather different mindset than that needed for our older, smaller, more focussed reserves. Knepp was a fantastic place to see this in action. Get the habitat right – create your functional landscape - and do not over worry about exactly what happens in terms of species and numbers. Good things will follow, even if we cannot (and should not) predict them precisely.
Also fascinating to see was the dominant effect on vegetation of stocking rates, and the need for managers to keep their hands firmly on the dial of grazing pressure over time. Mid-March may not be the most uplifting time of year to look at ground, but it is often the moment before growth at which it is easiest to see how well bitten an area is.
Finally, I was not aware of the considerable research taking place on Knepp on the subject of carbon sequestration in grazed open canopy landscapes. The recent history of the UK uplands, particularly in Scotland, seems to me to be a doleful tragedy of the assumption that carbon sequestration is best done through establishment of commercial softwoods, particularly Sitka Spruce. This narrative has come at considerable expense to ecology. I think that this assumption has taken root partly due to commercial pressure/vested interest of the forest investment industry. But also because – while the data for carbon sequestration over the lifetime of a simple single age, single species area of commercial planting is reasonably straightforward to establish - the same is not true for complex landscapes containing many different species of plant and animal. Thus it is an assumption that has developed in part due to a dearth of knowledge of the ability of ecologically rich, grazed savannah landscapes to fix carbon. The people at Knepp are working hard to fix this, and I think this hard-won data might have considerable benefits to long term UK ecology.
If you are lucky enough to go, budget time to visit the restaurant. Really first class.
